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THE 

MODERATE MONARCHY, 

OK 

^xincipUz of tfje i3rittsf) OTonistttutton, 

DESCRIBED IN 

A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE AND MAXIMS 

OF 

ALFRED THE GREAT 

AND HIS COUNSELLORS. 
FROM THE GERMAN OF ALBERT THALLER. 

TO WHICH ABE ADDED, 

NOTES AND COMMENTARIES 

ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION. 

BT 

FRANCIS STEINITZ, 

AITHOB OF "THE SHIP, ITS ORIGIN AND PBOGRESS," 
&C. &C. &C. 



"EXAMINE ALL, ADOPT THE 3 




IlontJon : ^ — ■ — 

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN. 

1849. 






LONDON : 
WOOLLET AND COOK, PBINTERS, ST. BBNE'l PLACE, 
GRACECHURCH STREET. 



PREFACE. 



When man attains the age of maturity, the illu- 
sions of younger years mostly vanish. All that he 
had ardently desired to acquire in life seems not 
worthy the exertions ; that which he had formerly 
cherished with the warmest passion, he now looks 
upon as transient, like all things in this world ; 
and, besides religion and domestic happiness, 
little remains to attach himself to, as in former 
years. 

Although the enchanting visions of youth — 
love, fame, and honours — have fled from his sight, 
the recollections of the grandeur of some ideals, 
based on history, whom he venerated in his youth, 
are not wholly extinguished in maturer age. 

Such was the impression which Haller's 
" Alfred " made upon the translator in his 
youth, and which has since remained engraved in 



IV PREFACE. 

his memory. Many great characters, pictured in 
history, and others, within his own recollection, 
who lived in the turbulent times at the close of 
the last and the beginning of the present century, 
although appreciated by him, could not eclipse 
the juvenile impression of the historical romance 
now before the reader. 

The fortunate mixture of grandeur, mildness, 
and severity, religion and domestic virtues, love 
of the arts and sciences, combined with valour and 
heroic deeds, in one individual, also celebrated 
for his romantic adventures, could not fail to win 
sympathy and universal admiration, and the more 
so since not the slightest doubt was held of 
Haller's veracity, as the fame he had acquired as 
a philosopher, and author of the poem, the "Alps," 
was at that time spread all over Germany. 

Although this little work, dedicated by Haller 
to the British nation, in the person of George 
III., is now out of print, its memory is preserved 
in every German heart ; it having been written at 



PREFACE. V 

a time when liberty and the wish for a consti- 
tutional form of government began to dawn in 
France and Germany; and a French translation of 
"Alfred," which appeared almost simultaneously 
with the original, may, like many a writing of 
that time, have contributed to hasten the catas- 
trophe which, in spite of its awfulness, has proved 
fortunate in its consequences to the world. 

The learned Haller became, in the last years of 
his life, almost disgusted at all the branches of 
science,* for which he had done so much during 

* Albert von Haller was a great physician, natural his- 
torian, and author, in several branches ; and one of the most 
learned men of his time. His works are very numerous, 
and his biography, written by Zimmerman, and brought to 
the year 1755, forms a considerable volume. If Haller was 
a celebrated lyrical poet, he was also a great statesman, 
and as such very useful to his country. His character was 
the purest, and he was as excellent a citizen as a father. 
Although a free thinker he was very religious, and an oppo- 
nent of Voltaire, with whom he was in constant strife. The 
renowned Cassanova, having once wished to visit the sage 
of Ferney, Haller observed to him, that Voltaire " presented 
an effect in direct opposition to the laws of physics, being 
greater when seen from a distance than when seen closely." 
Upon the " Heloi'se " of Rousseau, he said " that it was the 



VI PREFACE. 

his laborious career, and embraced politics; a 
proof that the human heart and head do not 
always feel inclined to give up, even in the most 
advanced age, all the illusions of life; but still 
endeavour to contribute, by intellectual power, 
towards the general weal. The translator — who 
has not the least ambition of comparing himself 
to Haller — although not living in Switzerland, 
nor having, like Haller, preserved the serene 
views of life, but finding himself bending under 
hypochondria, and beneath a cloudy sky, he has 
had the same tendency in translating this work 
that Haller had in writing it. 

worst of all romances, because it was the most eloquent." 
He despised Rousseau's eloquence, as anti-thesical and para- 
doxical, and to his opinion, that fictions were admitted into 
romances, opposed Petrarch, whose love for Laura was real. 
He had the courage to say, in a letter to Frederick II., 
who would entirely suppress the Latin language, " that in 
the event of a monarch succeeding in banishing the lan- 
guage of a Cicero and of a Horace from the republic of 
sages, he would set an eternal monument to the memory 
of his ignorance," upon which the great monarch renounced 
his project. Haller's biography and works will be found in 
almost every Encyclopaedia, but the above observations are 
not so generally known. 



PREFACE. Vll 

Haller's purpose was to picture, in one work, 
absolute monarchy, which he did in his histori- 
cal romance, entitled "Usong;" then, moderate 
monarchy in " Alfred ; " and, finally, moderate 
republic in a third work, entitled, "Fabius and 
Cato;" but he scorned to occupy himself with 
democracy, having witnessed the mischief which 
it caused, almost under his own eyes, in some 
Swiss cantons. 

In each of these works he has endeavoured to 
develop the principles of the three several forms 
of government in their highest degree of perfec- 
tion ; and in choosing the British constitution as a 
model of moderate monarchy, the only one which 
he could, in fact, choose for that purpose, he found 
that Alfred was the only monarch who combined 
such virtue, wisdom, and heroism, as rendered 
him worthy of being acknowledged the founder of 
that constitution, although historians may not 
attribute that noble work to him. 

On the occasion of the author's writing his 



Vlll PREFACE. 

work, "The Ship, its Origin and Progress," he 
had to make some researches concerning Alfred's 
ships and history, and found in his library Haller's 
"Alfred." His youthful reminiscences of that 
work were immediately revived ; and on once more 
reading it through, he found therein what he did 
not seek, namely, the fourth book, (in this work 
the fifth book,*) containing the principles of the 
British constitution in so simple and popular a 
form, that this part, which in his youth he had not 
the patience to read, and much less to study, made 
in his advanced age more impression upon him 
than Alfred's deeds had done in his youth. 

He then resolved upon attempting this trans- 
lation, for which he thought the present epoch the 
most appropriate, and on searching for the modern 
histories of Alfred, found his deeds more or less 

* The Sixth Book of Haller's "Alfred" contained Alfred's 
love, which, although we do not consider it as worthy of its 
author, we have given in the Second Book. The Introduc- 
tion and the Conclusion are not by Haller, but extracted 
from the works of John von Miiller, another Swiss historical 
author, almost as celebrated as himself. 



PREFACE. IX 

described by British historians, but nothing so 
complete and so brief as Haller's work. 

In his researches into Alfred's life, he at first 
studied the sources whence Haller had derived his 
knowledge, namely: Asser, John Spelman, Hume, 
and Littleton ; and also used Lappenberg, King, 
Turner, &c. ; but while the present translation 
was penning, two works appeared almost simul- 
taneously, namely, " Six Old English Chronicles," 
and ** Life and Times of Alfred the Great," which 
vastly contributed to facilitate his historical re- 
searches; and he cannot do less than to publicly 
thank the learned Dr. Giles, who worked out both 
the above works, which he owns to have made 
great use of in the historical notes, and which 
proved to him that most of what Haller related of 
Alfred was authentic. Notwithstanding the great 
credit which the translator gives these works, he 
trusts that this little book will not be considered 
as superfluous, as, in spite of the Germanisms, 
which could not altogether be avoided, it presents 
a brief, pleasant, and romantic history of the life 



X PREFACE. 

of Alfred, and possesses, besides, a higher ten- 
dency, developed in the fifth book. 

Small as the work is, it may be divided into 
three distinct parts : — 

1. Alfred's life and deeds: 2. The principles of 
the British constitution; and 3. Historical and 
political notes and commentaries, applying to both 
the preceding parts. 

These three parts, as they are now composed, 
have but one tendency; the author and compiler 
of the apparently heterogeneous notes and com- 
mentaries has united them for one purpose, which 
may thus be considered: — The transformation of 
the life of nations may be observed in their man- 
ners and customs; but the more that life becomes 
civilized, the more it loses the irrevocable harmony 
of its primitive condition, the desire of preserving 
which, does not expire so speedily in the better 
part of the nation. This preservation cannot be 
effected by better means than by warning, and by 
the recollection of its early stage of perfection. 



PREFACE. XI 

The propensities of nations often lose the original 
purity of their early consecration, and the races, 
abandoned to themselves, will hardly continue, as 
they ought, in their primitive state. It is there- 
fore necessary that they should be led, until their 
tottering inclinations are once more strengthened 
and sufficiently purified to be again abandoned to 
themselves, to procure a life of unconscious truth. 

It is consequently the recollection of the early 
perfection, and the retrospective view of its 
former condition, that seem to present the most 
suitable means of stopping the progress of the 
commencing corruption. 

In such times as ours, when anomaly has begun 
everywhere, and even around us, we wish to pre- 
serve the knowledge of the better situation of our 
forefathers, that, by reviving it through examples, 
we may turn the public mind towards it. 

While translating "Alfred," we were induced 
to study the elements of the British constitution ; 



Xll PREFACE. 

and having observed, with an unprejudiced eye, 
the progress of the civilization of nations, and 
principally that of the British for the last half 
century we have perceived the inevitable conse- 
quences which such civilization must produce on 
the original character of the people. The simpli- 
city of manners and customs, and the probity 
impregnated in English hearts has partly and suc- 
cessively vanished, and given place to the love of 
Mammon, which prevails in all classes in this 
formerly blessed country. 

The love of the arts and sciences, — the train of 
civilization, — has not yet succeeded in inspiring the 
minds of the people. On the contrary, they are 
in England mostly considered as the means of pro- 
curing money; and ambition, which also attends 
civilization, and is the great lever of civil and 
warlike deeds, is equally neutralized by the love 
of gold and comfort, and does not go farther than 
making a short speech as a chairman in an as- 
sembly, or on obtaining a commission.. 



PREFACE, Xiil 

Virtue is suddenly awakened by adversity, or 
acquired when civilization has attained so high a 
perfection in enlightened minds, as to replace 
the simplicity and probity of former times. This 
is not the case at present in England, and much 
good is birth-strangled by civilization in the mo- 
ment of nativity. 

Whether a little book, with historical notes, 
apparently without a systematic order or ten- 
dency, can contribute to the remembrance of the 
former grandeur of the British constitution and 
high standing probity of the nation, or in the 
slightest degree forward their regeneration, we do 
not pretend to decide; but trust the reader will 
believe that the sole and pure design of the com- 
piler and writer was to do justice to every opinion, 
and flatter none, that the reader may examine 
them, and preserve that which he considers the best; 
a little attention will enable him to discover to 
which of these opinions the author inclines. 

The author is far from pretending to be a 



3£1V PREFACE. 

reformer; the times are not always alike, and 
the world reforms itself in the different periods 
through which it passes. It reforms itself in 
every epoch just according to the contemporary 
individuals, and they again according to the 
times; both reciprocally make and reform each 
other, and both likewise reciprocally change each 
other. 

When, in the organization of nature, and at 
the critical moment of decay, a new encheiresis of 
life is formed; so soon as the positive direction 
has been given to the inner re-union, all that is 
external, all that has faded, whether merely 
spoiled, or rotten to the state of a dead peel, 
will break and fall asunder; but it may console 
us, that if the actual time seems to present 
such a picture of decay or disorganization, it is 
obliged so to do because the inner encheiresis 
of life has already begun to form itself. 

FKANCIS STEINITZ. 

London, June, 1849. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface, iii. 

List of Authors, xv. 

Introduction, xxi. 

THE FIRST BOOK. 

AXERED THE HERO, 1. 

NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

1. Anglo-Saxons in England, 189. — 2 Genealogy of Al- 
fred, ib. — 3. Ragnar Lodebrok, 190. — 4. Death of Edmund, 
King of the East Angles, 191. — 5. Battle of Reading, ib. — 
6. Alfred's Brethren, 193.— 7. Vide Note 5, ib.— 8 "Battle 
of Wilton, ib.— 9. Alfred's Vessels, 194.— 10. Defeat of the 
Danish Fleet, ib. — 11. Chippenham surprised by the Danes, 
195. — 12. Adventure of the Cakes, ib. — 13. Legend of the 
appearance of St. Cuthbert to Alfred, and his Visit to the 
Danish Camp, 197. — 14. Capture of the Standard of the 
Northmen, 200.— 15. The Magic Standard, 201.— 16. River 
Stowe, 202. — 17. London Rebuilt, and Erection of Castles, 
ib. — 18. Various Conflicts with the Danes in 893-94, 203. 
— 19. Capture of the Danish Fleet on the River Lea, 205. — 
20. Alfred and Hasting, 206.— 21. Flattery, ib. 

THE SECOND BOOK, 
Alfred's Love, 29. 

notes, commentaries, etc. 
22. Alfred's Marriage, 207. — 23. License of Poetical Fic- 
tion, 208. — 24. Hunting and Falconry, ib. 

THE THIRD BOOK. 
Alfred the Legislator, 44. 

notes, commentaries, etc. 
25. Alfred's Firmness undaunted, 209. — 26. A few Re- 
marks on Juries, ib. — 27. Anglo-Saxon Legislation before 
Alfred and Alfred's Code, 211.— 28. Division of England 
into Counties, &c, 215. — 29. Burgraves, 217. — 30. Golden 
Bracelets hung on Trees>ib. — 31. Ignorance of the Nobility, 
ib. — 32. Abuse of the Confessions of, and suspicion on, a 
Culprit, 21 8.— 33. Alfred's absolute Power, 219.— 34. Catho- 
lic Liturgy read in Latin, ib. — 33. Alfred's Co-adjutors in 
Instruction, 220. — 36. Pretended Tyranny and Faults of 
Alfred, 223. — 37. Controversies concerning Oxford Univer- 
sity, 225.-38. Vide Note 9, 226.-39. Alfred's Military 
Skill, ib. — £0. Sovereignty of the Seas, ib. — II. Alfred's 
Artistical and Professional Co-adjutors, 227. — 41a. Alfred's 



XV1U CONTENTS. 

Officers, ib.— 42. Parliament in Alfred's time, ib.— 43. Al- 
fred's severity, 228, — 44. Prerogatives of Earls, 229. 

THE FOURTH BOOK. 
Alfred the Sage, 65. 

notes, commentaries, etc. 

45. City of London rebuilt, 229. — 46. Reluctance of the 
Saxons to build Castles, ib. — 47. Foundation of Monasteries, 
230. — 48. Revenues of the Church, 231. — 49. Architectural 
Works of Alfred, 232. — 50. Division of the King's House- 
hold, 232.— 51. Vide Note 24, 233.-52. Alfred's skill in 
Jewellery, and description of his Gem, ib. — 53. Political 
Levers of Rulers, 235. — 54. Universal Genius and Manual 
Occupations of Princes, ib. — 55. Alfred's Zeal for Religion, 
236. — 56. Division of Alfred's Revenues, ib. — 57. Division 
of Alfred's Time, 237. — 58. Invention of Lanterns, 238. — 
59. Alfred's Illness, 239.— 60. Alfred'sEducation, 241.— 
61. Alfred's Books, 244. — 62. Alfred's Embassies to Rome, 
250.— 63. Education of Alfred's Children, 253.— Translation 
of King Alfred's Will, 254. — Translation of King Alfred's 
Proverbs, 260. 

THE FIFTH BOOK. 
Alfred and his Counsellor, 78. 

notes, commentaries, etc. 

64. Alfred's Generosity towards his Female Prisoners,. 263'. 
— 65. Attachment of Subjects to their Sovereigns, ib. — 
66. Remarks on Aristocracy, ib. — 67. Silk Garments in Al- 
fred's time, 267. — 68. Monarchical Power does not originate 
from Adam, 268. — 69. Honour and its meaning, 269. — 70.. 
Conscriptions, and Purchased Commissions, ib. — 71. Momen- 
tary Inspirations in the People, 270. — 72. Nation of Shop- 
keepers, ib. — 73. Moral Degradation produced by Comfort,. 
271. — 74. Chinese Sages, 272. — 75. Comfort produced by In- 
dustry and pure Pleasure, ib. — 76. Linen Garments among 
the Anglo-Saxons, ib. — 77. Modern Despots, 273. — 78. Pas- 
time of Sovereigns, 274. — 79. Family Government, ib. — 80. 
Sovereigns driven from their Thrones, 275. — 81. Aqua 
TofTana, ib. — 82. Dissipation and False Economy, ib. — 83,. 
" J'ai le droit et j'en use," ib.— 84. Vide Note 80, 276.-85-. 
Former and actual Punishment of unjust Princes, ib. — 86.. 
Beware! beware! beware! ib. — 87. Expression of the unfor- 
tunate Louis XVI., ib. — 88. Fruitless Lesson, 278. — 89. Best 
form of Government, ib. — 90. Hereditary Succession, ib. — 
91. Turbulence of the former Polish Diet, 279,-92. Ele- 
ments of the British Constitution, ib. — 93. Pretended Origin 



CONTENTS. XIX 

of Parliament, 280. — 94. [Miniature and other Republics, 281. 
— 95. Evils produced by Standing Armies, 282. — 96. Royal 
Domains, ib. — 97. Faults of Elective Power, 284. — 98. Sa- 
credness and Inviolability of the Person of the Sovereign, ib. 
—99. Royal Power limited by Laws, 286.— 100. Liberty of 
the Press, 288. — 101. Justice sacrificed to momentary Wel- 
fare, 289. — 102. Means of Influence, ib.— 103. Liberty of 
Opinion, ib. — 104. Limits of the patience of a Nation, 290. 
— 105. Fines for accidental words, ib. — 106. Legitimacy of 
Insurrection, ib. — 107. Non-appreciation of Public Opin- 
ion, 294. — 108. Limits of Transgression, 295. — 109. Tyrants 
govern by Fear, ib. — 110. Functions of the Nobility in the 
State, 296. — 111. Right of every Man to a share of Hap- 
piness, 299. — 112. Landlords and Tenants, ib. — 113. Justice 
invested in the Nobility, ib. — 114. Knowledge of Judges 
and their privation of Property, 300. — 115. Prerogative of 
the King, ib. — 116. Opening and Dissolving of Parliament 
by the King, 301. — 117. Degrees of Nobility in England, ib. 
— 118. Ecclesiastical Power in the British Constitution, 302. 
— 119. Occupations of the Nobility, 306. — 120. Parliamen- 
tary Eloquence, 307.— 12L Vide Notes 92 and 93, 311. — 
122. Members of Society are not all alike, ib. — 123. General 
Happiness, ib. — 124. Does a monarch enjoy perfect Hap- 
piness? 312. — 124a. Dignities of the State conferred on 
Children, 313. — 125. Men are not all alike, ib. — 126. Bom- 
bastical Eloquence,, ib. — 127. Men rising from common 
occupations to high dignities,, ib. — 127a. (p. 314.) — 128.. 
Despotism of the People the worst Tyranny, ib. — 129. 
" Those are real Tyrants who consider their will as the only 
existing Law," ib. — 130. The King and the People,, 315. — 
131. Ultra-conservatives, ib. — 132. "Every Countryman 
should work for himself," ib. — 133. Law of Primogeniture, 
316. — 134. Vide note 114, ib. — 135. Leagues may be con- 
sidered as little States in the Realm, ib. — 136. Reformation 
should be pursued by degrees, ib. — 137. French Deputies 
under the last Government,, ib. — 138. Fertile Lands 
changed into Deserts, 317. — 139. Alfred's Registration of 
Acres, ib. — 140. Population of Alfred's Dominions, ib. — 
141. Origin of Annual Parliamentary Sessions, ib. — 142. 
Voluntary Gifts and Taxes, ib. — 143. Assent to the Annual 
Budget, 319. — Legion of Officers for collecting Taxes, ib. 
— 144. Right of levying Taxes vested in the House of 
Commons, 323. — 145. Burden shaken from one to another, 
324. — 146. Revenue of the Church, 325. — 147. Subjection 
of all Ranks to Taxes, ib. — 148. Proportion of Taxes,, ib. — 



XX CONTENTS. 

149. Illusive Freedom, 326. — 150. Foundation of the British 
Constitution, ib. — 151. Reforms in Legislation, ib. — 152. 
Obedience to the Laws, 327. — 153. Men should moderate 
their desires, ib. — 154. Punishments must be mild but inevi- 
table, 328. — 155. Public Appointments obtained by favour, 
ib. — 156. Privy Council, ib. — 157. Surveyance over Coun- 
sellors, 329. — 258. Voice of the People, ib. — 159. Use of the 
rejecting power of a King, 330. — 160. Influence practised 
on Electors, ib. — 161. Such an honest man, who supports 
with patience the loss of the esteem of his Party, exists even 
now, ib. — 162. Do Representatives strive to increase their 
power? 351. — 163. Mischief caused by the power of the 
People, ib. — 164. Deputies and their Electors, ib. — 165. 
Members of the Opposition, ib. — 166. Recent Proposals 
made to Government, 332. — 167. Majority and Minority, 
333. — 168. Reform of Representation, ib. — 169. Happy 
situation of Great Britain, 336. — 170. Question of Short or 
Long Parliaments, ib. — 171 and 172. Representatives should 
be worthy of sitting at the Rudder of Government, 337. 

THE SIXTH BOOK. 
Alfred and his Navigator, 152. 

notes, commentaries, etc. 
173. Othar's Voyages, 338. — 174. Othar's success in ob- 
taining Ships for his Voyages, ib. — 175 and 176. Sociality 
in a State of Nature, ib. — 177. Cruelty practised towards 
Children, ib.— 178. Marriages and Filial Piety, 339.— 179. 
Origin of Property, ib. — 180. History of Five Robinson 
Crusoes, 341. — 181. Infancy of Man, ib. — 182. Examples of 
worthy Landowners, 342. 

CONCLUSION. 

NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

183. Man in a State of Nature, 344. — 184. Moderate 
Monarchy, ib. 

%* The Engravings on the Title, and on the Introduction re- 
quire no explanation. The embossed figure on the Cover, taken 
from the Coitonian Library, represents, according to StrutCs" Man- 
ners and Customs of the Ancient Britons," an Anglo-Saxon King, 
of the ninth century, a sketch of which teas used, with some alteration 
in the face, which we do not, however, pretend to be an authentic copy 
of Alfred. The face of Alfred's jewel is represented on the reverse 
of the Cover, the other side being given in an engraving in p. 1 86. 



LIST OF AUTHORS 



CONSULTED BY THE COMPILER. 



AsSER. 

Bacon. 

Bastiat. 

Blackstone. 

bolingbroke. 

Burke (Edmund ) 

De Lolme. 

Ethelwolfe's Chronicle. 

Flower (Benjamin.) 

Giles (the Rev. Dr.) 

Grotius. 

Hugo (Victor.) 

Hume. 

KANG-HE'S (EmPEROR*S 

" Sacred Edict.") 
King. 



Lappenberg. 

Littleton. 

Locke. 

Lovelace (Earl of.) 

Malmesbury (William 
of.) 

Montesquieu. 

Mortimer (Sir Thomas.) 

Muller (J. Von.) 

Potter. 

Schomberg. 

Spelman (John.) 

Turner. 

Voltaire. 

Wade. 

Wolfe. 



ERRATA. 

Page 235 line 26 — For Geni read Genius. 
„ 307 „ 10 — For perrot-footmen read parrot-footmen. 
„ 313 „ 32 — For by the president read by one of the 

chiefs. 
„ 316 „ 3 — For ote read oter. 
„ 319 „ 5 — For are well read is well. 
„ 335 „ 33 — For life time read /or « ft/<? time. 



XX11 INTEODXJCTION. 

for which the Scots gave them perpetual occasion. 
The Hebrides were divided between the Scots 
and the Hibernians, as the island of the -ZEgsean 
Sea had been shared by the Greeks and Persians. 

The first Belgic Britons in the southern parts 
of the island lost, by the Roman victories, their 
liberty, and the strength of character which was 
necessary to restore it. Pressed by sea and land, 
they found themselves under the necessity of in- 
viting a tribe of Saxons, at that time considered 
as a nation of formidable navigators. 

The English brought with them to Britain the 
simple and barbarous manners of the German 
tribes. The followers of Hengist and Horsa, 
and the other hordes who successively passed 
over and occupied the country, maintained their 
national character with the greater purity, as the 
insular situation of England prevented inter- 
course with foreigners. They were animated by 
a love of their country and a spirit of indepen- 
dence, which were cherished during six hundred 



INTRODUCTION. XXlll 

years by the weakness of monarchy, or by im- 
pediments arising from the various states of 
public opinion, and the inclination of the nobility 
and the popular assemblies, which controlled the 
ambition of the kings. From this long contest 
there arose, at length, a constitution, which im- 
parted life and vigour to the state, and which will 
continue to unite the various advantages of all 
the forms of government, and to avoid their evils, 
until the commercial spirit shall finally give rise to 
habits of thinking, incompatible with the self-devotion 
of patriotism. 

For the rest, England was divided into seven 
kingdoms, of which the subjects were chiefly 
Saxons, or those Britons whom their circum- 
stances had not enabled to emigrate. The re- 
mainder of the Britons sought refuge in the 
mountains of Wales, or crossed the sea, to share 
the fate of Armorica, to which country they 
imparted the name of their native land. Eng- 
land, properly so called, was, long before the 
time of Alfred, divided into hundreds and coim- 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

ties. Every division had its head, who was 
responsible to his superior, and all were subject to 
the king. Forty names of such counties serve 
still for the division of the country ; but there are 
larger cities which are within the jurisdiction of 
no county, and districts which give the tenths 
not to any bishop, but to the king; those towns 
having been built since the division into counties 
took place, and such districts having been culti- 
vated since the revenues of the church were 
allotted. The institutions of England are in this 
respect peculiar, that the people have so much 
reverence for antiquity, as rather to bear with 
imperfections than to violate the venerable form 
of the political fabric. Liberty, which is founded 
on custom and precedent, does not admit of in- 
novations. 

Every district elected its magistrate, so that, 
even at that early period, the ambitious had no 
way of obtaining their gratification but by seek- 
ing to gain, through popular manners, the affec- 
tions of the people. Laws were enacted by the 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

king, in the council of the nobles and wise men. 
The latter long retained the impression of the 
wisdom of ancient Rome, a certain predilection 
for knowledge, as if the muses had ever sought 
the land of freedom. This national council was 
assembled in a regular manner twice every year. 
Free men held that place in it, which in the 
records is distinguished by the name of Com- 
mons. The judgments that were given during 
these times became the model and foundation of 
the common law, the traditional remains of ori- 
ginal customs and rights, as declared in every 
case by the voice of twelve men of the same 
rank with the accused. These decisions, handed 
down from antiquity, formed the favourite law of 
the country, the foundation of England's liberty, 
as it had descended from the earliest ages. Those 
institutions which had not their origin in the 
primitive manner of the people, were introduced 
in latter times by violence and craft. 

How the constitution, manners, and religion of 
a people may undergo frequent alterations, while 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

through all such vicissitudes the love of freedom 
may still remain inherent in them, and display- 
proofs of its influence on every occasion; how 
this general sentiment, exalted by all private 
interests, may yet in no particular give rise to 
any excess, but may produce an equilibrium of 
power in the whole fabric of the state ; how this 
spirit of independence may find the way of 
limiting the power of the king, by means of a 
parliament, and the authority of the latter, by 
means of the king, and the influence of one 
house by that of the other; and how these 
strong and multifarious bonds of liberty may give 
to all classes of the people a lofty elevation of 
character; all these great and splendid problems 
find their solution in the history of the English 
nation. When we observe the old Albiones in 
the mountains of Caledonia, the Britons in 
Wales, and the English themselves all animated 
with the same spirit, we are obliged to conjecture 
the existence of some permanent, ever-operative 
cause, powerful enough to overcome the original 
characters which these nations brought with them 



INTRODUCTION. XXV11 

from foreign realms. As the laws of the Chi- 
nese, Indians, and Egyptians, resisted the effect 
of repeated vicissitudes over a very lengthened 
period; and the institutions of Lycurgus main- 
tained their relation to the rugged feet of the 
Taygetus ; — the same as the Romans and Cartha- 
ginians acquired, from local circumstances, those 
characters which have excited the admiration of 
posterity; the manners of the Germans remained 
permanent on their native soil, underwent in 
Spain a complete reverse, and gave way in 
France to a more sprightly character; so we 
may contemplate the British isles, as destined De- 
nature to become the land of freedom. Finer 
fruits are the gifts of a warmer climate; but 
colder regions bring forth hardier bodies; the 
former enervates and renders its people effemi- 
nate ; the latter enables them to bear even servi- 
lity with patience ; the climate of England holds 
the enviable mean, and moderation is the cha- 
racter of all its institutions. 

The whole northern region of the world was 



XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 

as yet unknown. Scarcely does a faint glimmer- 
ing break forth by degrees more like the polar 
lights than the splendour of day. Scandinavia, 
Russia, Sarmatia, and the land of the Gepidi, 
to the confines of the eastern empire, were still 
enveloped in darkness ; but England was destined 
to become the central point of the civilized south 
and the rude north ; and she it was who, in later 
years, through the mighty lever of navigation and 
commerce, was to propagate universal civilization. 




THE FIRST BOOK. 



ALFRED THE HERO. 2 



The powerful Egbert governed no more; Ethel- 
wulf, his son, inherited his crown — but neither his 
genius nor his courage; and his eldest son, Ethel- 
wald, extorted from him half his realm, but was 
himself only for a short time possessor of the vacant 
throne. Under his reign began the misfortunes of 
England. 

The inhabitants of England were no more the 
old warriors of Saxony; for, under the milder cli- 
mate of England, their manners and customs had 
become softened ; the contempt of death, and the 
thirst for victory and conquest, had been eradi- 
cated by the superior power of the priests. Kings 
were seen visiting, and coming from afar, to pray 
at the altars of the holy monks. Of the priests 
they implored victories, which their ancestors had 

B 



2 THE FIRST BOOK, 

expected solely by the power of their swords, 
Already had they visited Rome as the source of 
salvation. Already had the whole realm been 
subjected to a tax, by which they purchased the 
protection of the chief bishop. They wished to 
enjoy in peace the fruits of the country their 
ancestors had acquired at the price of their 
blood. War was now considered by the Anglo- 
Saxons as a duty to which they were obliged 
to recur, but no longer as the beloved exercise of 
their valour. 

Farther north, in the more severe climate of 
Scandinavia, the rude old customs were preserved. 
That country was inhabited by a race of people 
whose only fear was a woundless death, and who 
awaited the reward of their courage in eternity, 
believing the effusion of their own blood to be the 
only means of obtaining the favour of Odin. Those 
nations then inhabited the remote regions, where 
the Romans had never brought their arts or their 
emollient manners. They considered the peace- 
ful inhabitants of southern Europe as a booty 
purposely created by nature for them, as the pigeon 
is for the sparrow-hawk. 

The Northmen, 3 the inhabitants of the shores 
of the extensive Scandinavia, cruized in light 



ALFRED THE HERO. 3 

vessels on all the seas, landed from the rivers, 
surprised the defenceless villages and the unpro- 
tected towns, plundered the inhabitants of their 
wealth, and found a fierce pleasure in destruc- 
tion and in the murder of the vanquished. They 
owned no other virtue than the courage of the 
warrior; the modesty of the peaceful clergy 
seemed to them a base neglect of the sole duty by 
which man can be honoured. They despised 
science as they despised the distaff, considering 
them merely as the occupation of cowardly natures. 
When they had devastated a country, when all 
that surrounded their camp was smoking, and the 
fruits of the assiduity of the innocent countrymen 
had been consumed, they returned to their ships, 
and sought another country, which had not yet 
felt the effects of their blood-thirsty swords and 
destructive torches. Thus the savages carried with 
them death and calamity throughout the world, and 
the land which bore their footsteps was doomed to 
misfortune. Tired of killing, and loaded with the 
booty of the industrious, they returned to their 
harbours, sung of their feats to the beauties of 
the country, and enjoyed the general veneration 
of the inhabitants. The chiefs of the barbarians 
often carried off some handsome woman, taking 
her to his rustic castle, where no tears could save 
her innocence, and all hope was lost of ever again 
B 2 



4 THE FIRST BOOK. 

breathing the milder air of her country, or hearing 
the sweet voices of her parents. 

Brought up in armour and amidst combats, these 
warriors knew no other art than the glorious one 
of war. They feared no wounds, and looked upon 
death as the passage to the palaces of the gods. 
They never considered the numbers of their ene- 
mies, and singly attacked whole armies. The gal- 
lant Kagnar sung his funeral hymns with gnawing 
snakes in his bosom. This courage was accom- 
panied by a strength acquired by continual exer- 
cise, and by the most perfect knowledge of the use 
of their weapons. In their contempt of death they 
surpassed all other European nations, and their 
arrival spread terror over the whole realm; the 
hopeless inhabitants left their homes and fled to 
the fortified towns, where walls and towers opposed 
for a while the progress of the enemies, who were 
not in possession of implements to break down 
these fortifications. 

The weak Carlovingians could not resist the 
rushing torrent of the Northmen, and purchased at 
the price of their silver an uncertain peace. The 
Scandinavians acknowledged no governor, every 
chieftain plundered on his own account. When one 
of the bands, bearing the ransom of the terrified 



ALPEED THE HERO. 5 

inhabitants, returned home, the next entered with 
the same fury, and took the lives of the miserable 
men, which had been purchased of the former. 
Resistance and submission were alike dangerous ; 
for, to those inexperienced in war, the first was in- 
evitable destruction, and the latter only postponed 
for some weeks their complete ruin. 

It was under the reign of Ethelbert, brother of 
Ethelwulf, that Hubba and Hinguar, the sons of 
RagnarLodobroch, forced their way into England. 
They surprised York, then already a large town. 
The princes of the country advanced to their en- 
counter with a poorly armed multitude of men, but 
the war-like Scandinavians defeated the enervated 
Saxons. They killed a part of the nobility, and 
extorted from the vanquished hard conditions and 
shameful contributions. They also soon attacked 
the eastern part of the island: Edmund, Prince 
of the East- Saxons, was likewise defeated, and 
made a prisoner. The barbarians killed him, and 
overran the whole country with their bloody 
weapons. 4 

Another Saxon army fortified themselves at 
Reading, 5 not far from London, then only a 
town of middling class. Ethelred, King of the 
Anglo-Saxons, son and successor to Ethelwulf, at- 



6 THE FIKST BOOK. 

tacked the intrenched Northmen with more cou- 
rage than fortune, being repulsed with a great loss 
of men. At Ashdune, not far from Reading, the 
armies again met; the Anglo-Saxons were divided 
into two camps, one of which was under the com- 
mand of the king himself, and the other under that 
of his younger brother, the active Alfred, who 
then made his first essay against the enemies of 
his country. Alfred, the favourite of his father 
Ethelwulf, and the youngest of his sons, had re- 
ceived of nature gifts seldom combined in one 
individual. An agreeable exterior and engaging 
manner won all hearts to him. He was sent by 
his father to Rome, then the seat of that little 
learning which the destructive wars of the North- 
men in Europe had not buried in oblivion. The 
young prince was instructed in arts nearly for- 
gotten in England, and even acquired ecclesiastical 
dignities, for Leo IV. bishop of Rome, anticipated, 
from a secret feeling, the future grandeur of the 
noble youth, and therefore anointed him as king, 
although three elder brothers existed between him 
and the throne. 6 

In England Alfred was brought up in the prac- 
tice of the only exercises then considered noble, 
hunting, and the art of falconry. He was accus- 
tomed to support the inconveniences of a labori^ 



ALFRED THE HERO. 7 

ous life, as well as the sufferings of hunger, heat, 
and fatigue. He was eighteen years old, when 
his brother, Ethelred, thought him able to com- 
mand an army; but not being acquainted with the 
noble qualities of the blooming young prince, he 
believed it necessary to induce the youth, by 
promises of great rewards, to assist him in the 
threatening circumstances in which England was 
placed. He therefore promised him half the 
lands he should subdue. Ethelred afterwards 
acted unfairly towards the noble Alfred; he not 
only withheld that part of the realm intended by 
his father as his hereditary share, but likewise 
that which he had himself promised him; but 
the love of his country suppressed in Alfred all 
feelings of resentment, and he zealously served 
his unjust brother in the most dangerous cam- 
paigns. 

Alfred was really virtuous, and an ardent desire 
to serve his country inflamed his courage. The 
Northmen advanced to meet him in the field, and 
compelled him with his weakened and inexpe- 
rienced army to battle. Ethelred was, during that 
time, praying in his tent, and neither the entreaties 
of his Anglo-Saxons, nor the sounds of the chal- 
lenging trumpets, could induce him to abridge the 
ceremony by which he hoped to obtain the Divine 



8 THE FIKST BOOK. 

assistance. While Ethelred delayed, Alfred was 
obliged to venture the dangers of a battle., and 
marched in an open plain against the more numer- 
ous and dreaded Northmen. His bravery and 
example excited the most irresolute soldiers to a 
firm resistance. Their bows of yew-tree, from 
which flew iron darts, (a system which, some cen- 
turies after, gave the English a preponderance 
over the most warlike knights in Europe,) held for 
a long time the issue of the battle undecided. 
They slayed a great number of the half-naked 
Northmen, whose weapons were only dangerous in 
close combat, but the brave Northmen remained 
undaunted; wrath inflamed their courage; they 
forced themselves into the Saxon ranks, whose 
massive weapons were no longer useful, and com- 
pelled them to retreat, though not to disperse* 
The sight and example of the young hero kept 
them under their standard; but they were sur- 
rounded by their overpowering enemies, and de- 
spair replaced courage, just as Ethelred at last 
approached. Too much time had he devoted to 
piety in moments so precious for the safety of 
his people. His army, which had not suffered 
at all, perceived the near destruction of their 
brethren, and rushed with more energy to their 
rescue than the king could hope. One part of 
them firmly met one wing of the Northmen* 



ALFRED THE HERO. 9 

another fell on the flanks of the combatting enemy, 
who, enclosed between the two Saxon armies, 
became the victims of Alfred's vengeance. The 
wing which still resisted, on beholding the loss 
of the other, retreated. The victors pursused the 
Northmen over the whole environs, until night 
sheltered the remainder. Thousands lay scattered 
over the field, and the earth eagerly drank the 
blood of its furious enemies. 7 

But the north was too fertile in wandering 
legions, and the courage of its inhabitants too 
great for one defeat, to prevent them from again 
attemping the booty they had so often found in 
England. After a few weeks, their army was 
reinforced by numerous ships from Scandinavia. 
They therefore again advanced upon the two 
Saxon princes. A battle was fought near Merton, 
in the county of Wilts, in which Ethelred was 
wounded, and the Saxons forced to have recourse 
to flight. The greater practice in war, and the 
riveted contempt of death, gave the Northmen a 
preponderance, which Alfred's bravery was unable 
to resist. Ethelred died of his wounds, leaving the 
realm in a situation which must have paralyzed 
every desire of possessing the vacant throne. The 
victorious Northmen occupied the heart of the 
b3 



10 THE FIKST BOOK. 

country, the Saxons were exhausted from their 
repeated defeats, and more disheartened by their 
hopelessness than from the reduced number of 
their soldiers. A king of this people, exposed to 
the greatest dangers, could foresee nothing but 
doubtful battles, probable defeats, humiliation, 
and wounds. 

Alfred was young, but his stability suppressed, 
even in the most passionate periods of his life, 
the emotion of lust. He was now, excepting a 
child, the only possessor of the noble blood, 
which, from the dignified Woden to the vic- 
torious Egbert, reigned uninterruptedly over the 
Saxons. Ethelred had already promised him 
the succession to the throne, while he deprived 
him of the estates which were his hereditary share. 
Alfred fought for his people, and was victorious; 
and even when defeated, his courage and prudence 
were irreproachable. The whole country of the 
Saxons looked up to him, hoping only to be saved 
from the threatened ruin by his virtues ; but the 
prudent youth long declined assenting to the press- 
ing nobility, and the soliciting clergy. At last 
he unwillingly complied with their request, and 
consented to ascend the throne at Winchester, 
which had so often been shaken by the conquering 
barbarians. 



ALFRED THE HERO. 11 

Not a month had elapsed before Alfred was 
obliged to give a general battle at Wilton; 8 he 
would have preferred to exercise his people pre- 
viously to war, by little skirmishes, to teach them 
to look boldly into the furious faces of the North- 
men, but the murders of the barbarians, and the 
fires spread by them over the whole country, forced 
him to submit to uncertain chance, and to oppose 
the enemy with a limited force. Long did the 
Saxons contend with equal success against the 
Northmen, till the sun stood at the meridian ; the 
wise directions of the king seemed to have given 
him the victory. The Northmen gave way — they 
fled not, but retreated. The Saxons imprudently 
followed them ; many dispersed themselves from 
the desire of booty, and pressed the enemy to a 
rising ground, from which they could overlook the 
thin legions of the Saxons. The brave Northmen 
also preserved their courage in defeats, they has- 
tened back and fell upon the Saxons, who were 
sure of the victory, and wrested from them the 
honour of the day. Night withdrew them from 
the swords of the Northmen, and very few fell, 
but the victory was lost, and the courage of the 
Saxons again depressed. 

Nevertheless the Northmen purchased the vic- 
tory with so much blood, and the warlike capacity 



12 THE FIRST BOOK. 

of Alfred had awakened in them such veneration, 
that they concluded a treaty with him, leaving the 
kingdom of the West-Saxons, and turned their 
weapons towards other parts of the island, over 
which Gurrhead, Prince of Middlesex, reigned. 
They devastated his dominions, forced him to 
several battles, and after his death, compelled his 
realm to submit to their power. The kingdoms 
of the East-Saxons and of Northumberland w T ere 
laid in ruins, and the few fortified places were in 
possession of the Scandinavians. Guthrum and 
Amund with new legions soon attacked the watch- 
ful King Alfred, who alone upheld the liberty 
of the West-Saxons; but the prudent king com- 
pelled the Northmen to withdraw from his country, 
and by an oath to their divinities, for ever to leave 
his dominions ; the perjurers, however, soon after 
invaded the royal establishment for rearing horses, 
robbed them, and captured Exeter. 

The king represented to his hopeless and fatigued 
Saxons, that as neither peace nor oaths could bind 
the barbarians, there was no other remedy than to 
trust to themselves and their own courage. Since 
there was no other means for their safety left, 
despair should strengthen their arms ; for it would 
be more glorious to die sword in hand, than to be 
murdered and robbed, like flying game, without 



ALFRED THE HERO. 13 

resistance. Encouraged by these representations, 
the Saxons grasped their weapons and opposed 
themselves to the Northmen. Seven times in one 
year was Alfred obliged to combat these robbers ; 
and the most noble blood of the Saxons flowed 
like streams on the fields. But the Northmen lost 
likewise half their legions, and at last agreed to 
the former conditions — to leave the kingdom of 
the West- Saxons, and never to bring any new 
legions from the north to Alfred's realm. 

The victorious Rollo, the ancestor of the Nor- 
man kings, for whom Providence destined Alfred's 
throne, kept true to that treaty: he left England, 
and turned his weapons against Neustria, which 
he appropriated to himself, and over which country 
his grandsons reigned with glory and renown. 

As nothing could escape Alfred's judgment, he 
found it useless to force the Northmen to treaties 
so long as the open sea was at their command. 
Their fierce avidity and blood-thirsty desire for 
fame did not allow them to practise any arts, and 
to them life was not endurable unless they could 
hear the clash of weapons, and were aroused by 
hopes of fresh victories. Alfred perceived what 
the former kings of Saxony did not, that Eng- 
land had no other enemies to fear than those who 



14 THE FIEST BOOK. 

could attack her by sea. He accordingly ordered 
vessels 9 to be built in all the harbours, and took 
into his pay, as volunteers, skilful sailors, selected 
from the fishermen. He equipped his ships with 
soldiers, and stationed them at the mouths of 
the rivers, where the Scandinavians usually dis- 
embarked. The Saxons then came vigorous and 
well-armed from their harbours, while the robbers 
who arrived from Scandinavia were fatigued and 
weakened by the long voyage necessary to reach 
England. The Saxons, who were then superior to 
the Northmen, vanquished two of their squadrons, 
sunk most of their vessels, and compelled the 
remainder to fly to their northern regions. Alfred 
hastened to reach Exeter by land, surrounded the 
Northmen, who were already on horseback, and 
forced them to give hostages, and leave the whole 
country of the West-Saxons. 10 Very few of the 
Northmen kept their promise, for the greater 
number could only find their subsistence in plun- 
der. They again invaded Alfred's dominions, sur- 
prised Chippenham, the strongest fortified castle 
of the pressed Saxons, and carried the consuming 
fire and bloody sword to all corners of the realm. 11 

Fatigued with long wars and repeated defeats, 
and weakened by their own victories, the Saxons 
at last lost all hope of preservation. They dis- 



ALFRED THE HERO. 15 

persed themselves in the woods, in the wildernesses, 
in Wales, until then unmolested, and sought even 
among their enemies a security, which no resis- 
tance could procure them. The unarmed men 
bowed with despondency under the yoke, and sub- 
mitted to their oppressors. 

Alfred was abandoned by his people, and saw 
no means of rallying, or of again raising the spirits 
of the depressed soldiers. He had, therefore, no 
other alternative than to save himself, as with 
his ruin would fall all hopes of re-establishing 
the kingdom of the Saxons. He cast off the royal 
garments, arrayed himself in the coarse clothes 
of the labourer, blackened his rosy cheeks with 
the juice of fruits, and sought shelter in the hut 
of an old cowherd, who had been employed by 
his forefathers; this faithful servant concealed 
the dignity of his master even from his own wife, 
who treated the unknown monarch with an un- 
becoming rudeness, 12 in which Alfred found his 
security. A whole year the young king remained 
thus concealed, but his active nature was not idle 
during that time of oppression. 

The Northmen having erected a scattered camp 
in the marshy island of Athelney, 13 between two 
rivers, in the county of Somerset, considered them- 



16 THE FIRST BOOK. 

selves perfectly secure in the elder bushes growing 
among the moors, from which natural fortifications 
they directed their excursions into the unfortunate 
kingdom of the West- Saxons ; and concealed in 
those impenetrable deserts, captured booties from 
the tormented English. Alfred often fell, with 
a few Saxons, or with some armed herdsmen, upon 
the Danish camp. He slayed single detachments 
of robbers, and prepared the great act of ven- 
geance he meditated on the barbarians. He often 
retook from them the cattle they had stolen, and 
divided them amongst the volunteers who assisted 
him to annoy the enemies of the country. The 
single and abandoned king was to the North- 
men a whole army, which slew them by hundreds, 
and yet remained invisible. These petty victories 
spread his shepherd's name abroad, and Wulf 
became a dreaded name. 

Alfred awaited with pain and impatience the 
time when he hoped to free his people from the 
oppression under which they languished. His 
faithful host was poor, and the wandering tribes of 
Danes had already robbed him of his cattle ; he 
was therefore obliged to share his frugal bread 
with Alfred, and even that at times failed from 
unexpected accidents. One day there remained 
but one loaf for Alfred and his host, when a tra~ 



ALFRED THE HERO. 17 

veller entered the hut in which Alfred was 
alone, saying, " I am starving." Alfred could not 
resist such an appeal, and shared his last loaf with 
the unfortunate man ; trusting for his future sub- 
sistence to that Providence which nourishes the 
ravens. He fell asleep in his solitude, and tradition 
says, that in the soft slumber which only attends 
the virtuous, a superior being appeared to him and 
spoke thus: "Thy misfortunes are at an end, King 
of the Saxons, thy throne now awaits thee ; be in 
prosperity what thou hast been in misery." Alfred 
heard these words, and after a few hours awoke 
with the dawn of hope. The shepherd had been 
fortunate in fishing, and the herdsmen had found 
one of their strayed sheep. But more important 
news called him to great undertakings. Odun, 
Earl of Devon, had fortified himself, and retired to 
Kin with Castle, where a great number of dispersed 
Saxons had assembled under his banner. Hubba 
and Hinguar had just returned from Wales, with 
booty captured from the Saxons, whom they had 
pursued thither ; and hoped to force Kinwith with 
little resistance, there remaining but little pro- 
vision to the besieged garrison, They accordingly 
surrounded the castle, and cut off the water, 
thinking thereby to compel them to surrender. 

Alfred's heart burned at the sufferings of his 



18 THE FIRST BOOK. 

people. He left Athelney, and repaired, disguised 
as a minstrel, to the encampment of the Danes. 
He sang to the lute old war-songs ; the Northmen 
listened to him with eagerness, and led him to the 
tent of their commander. The king remained two 
days in the enemys' camp, and acquired a perfect 
knowledge of the whole situation of their army. 
He observed their carelessness, and their disdain 
of the Saxons whom they had so often vanquished. 
He summoned, by faithful messengers, his dispersed 
Saxons from the counties of Wilts, Hants, and 
Somerset, assembled them in the forest of Sel- 
wood, and at Egbert's stone united them under his 
standard. 

Alfred presented himself before them arrayed 
in royal garments, and in all the glitter of a con- 
queror who would lead them, full of hope, against 
the enemy. He addressed them in a speech, which 
excited them to a bold attack: — "You have," said 
he, " the choice of being killed by the barbarians, 
leaving them your wives as victims, your children 
as slaves, and your country groaning under the 
heaviest of yokes ; or to free your country, your 
children, your wives, and yourselves, by the dan- 
ger of one day. Do not fear the martial courage 
and experience of your enemies : I have seen them — 
seen them as closely as possible, and I can assure 



ALFEED THE HERO. 19 

you they are not prepared for battle. They expect 
no enemy, and are perfectly ripe for a defeat; 
before the careless are awake, your swords will be 
in their bosoms." 

The whole Saxon army clashed their shields, 
and a general shout rose to the skies: Alfred 
took care not to let such enthusiasm abate, and 
employed the whole night in approaching the. 
Danes. At dawn of day, as the fires of the enemy 
expired, and most of them had sunk fast asleep, 
Alfred and his army rushed into the unguarded 
camp. 

Just at that time Odun 14 sallied forth from Kin- 
with Castle with his garrison, whom despair had 
inflamed with a contempt for death. The warlike 
Northmen were beaten without resistance, and the 
embroidered raven, worked by the three sisters of 
Hubba, the general standard of the Scandinavians, 
on whose magic power, according to the super- 
stitious notions of the Northmen, depended the 
victory, fell into the hands of Alfred. 15 A few 
Danes only escaped in their vessels. The greater 
part of the defeated army found a secure position, 
which, however, only delayed their destruction for 
a few days. Alfred surrounded the flying North- 
men with his victorious army ; and in the second 



20 THE FIRST BOOK. 

week hunger and cold forced the disheartened 
brigands to surrender themselves to the king, in 
whose pity alone they still hoped for mercy. 
Alfred, satisfied with the humility of these dreaded 
warriors, offered them very moderate conditions 
of peace; Guthrum, the only commander who had 
escaped death, and thirty of the noblest warriors 
accepted baptism ; Alfred himself gave the north- 
ern prince the name of Athelstan, and distributed 
among his new converts rich presents, Guthrum 
obtaining for his share the kingdoms of the East 
Saxons and Northumberland, in feudal possession. 

Nations only gradually acquire a perfect know- 
ledge of truth: long do they remain barbarians, 
and their wishes, like those of animals, are encom- 
passed within the limits of necessity ; but at last 
manners and arts begin to dawn, slowly the light 
increases, and noon succeeds to night, through twi- 
light and the cooler morning hours. 

Alfred forced the Northmen to baptize, and his 
object in doing so was of the best. By the ties of 
religion, he hoped to obtain of the wild warriors 
adherence to their promises, and to open to them 
the path by which they could escape eternal per^ 
dition: but the honest king perceived not, and the 
mundane priests knew not, that sprinkled water 



ALFRED THE HERO. 21 

alone cannot make Christians— that the fear of 
the sword of a conqueror cannot produce con- 
viction, and that the dignity of baptism^ the sign 
of incorporation in the society of the faithful, is 
profaned in a punishable manner, when urged upon 
individuals who do not acknowledge the truth and 
spirit of the action, and whose will does not obey 
the duties of religion. 

No faithfulness to the king was observed by 
either Guthrum or his warriors, and it was neces- 
sary to attack them anew; for amongst the Saxon 
priests, none could be found possessed of sufficient 
ardour or wisdom to convert so great a mass of 
warriors, hardened by robbery and bloodshed. 
The solemn baptism of the formidable Northmen 
attracted the Saxon nobility to Weadmore. Alfred 
stepped himself to the altar and pronounced the 
name Guthrum should bear as a Christian, pro- 
mising, for the converted, faithfulness to the belief 
which he accepted. 

The King of the Saxons never neglected the 
welfare of his people; he projected the laws which 
should in future govern the Northmen, who settled 
themselves in the kingdom of the East- Saxons and 
Northumberland, which were signed by Guthrum. 
The latter directed himself to the territory ap- 



22 THE FIRST BOOK. 

pointed to him, and the Northmen who would not 
engage themselves to the Christian faith, shipped 
over to France, and there destroyed the badly- 
defended provinces ; but avoided beginning a new 
war with the Saxons, over whom they could not 
hope to obtain any advantage. 

Alfred continued his efforts to form a navy, 
which would enable him to keep oif the foreign 
robbers from his country; for it was not unknown 
to him that every bay in the northern regions 
issued armed vessels with freebooters, who con- 
sidered every property that could not resist their 
weapons as their own. Alfred vanquished in the 
next year a northern fleet, sunk the largest vessels, 
and compelled the remainder to fly to the other 
shores, where the weak Carlovingians reigned 
powerless and without consideration, and left their 
people a prey to foreigners. Nevertheless another 
northern army reached near the Thames, and be- 
sieged Rochester, but the vigilant Alfred soon 
came to its assistance, when the Northmen fled 
without venturing a battle, and their plunder fell 
into the hands of the Saxons. Another squadron 
was attacked by Alfred at the mouth of the 
Stour; 16 he burned a part of the ships, and 
obliged the remainder to a treaty, which was again 
broken by the treacherous Northmen as soon as 



ALFKED THE HEKO. 23 

the presence of the king no longer restrained 
them. 

Alfred immediately afterwards rebuilt and 
fortified the destroyed city of London, and 
to him this immense town owes its rise. 17 The 
prudent prince likewise fortified many other 
towns, foreseeing that the northern robbers could 
not so easily ruin his subjects if those towns were 
protected by walls and towers, as they did in the 
defenceless villages, before any assistance could 
arrive; but another still more important foresight 
occupied the king. 

A storm awaited him, which he averted by his 
wisdom and prudence. Arnulf had united the 
whole power of his realm with the Franks, and 
forced the Northmen to leave the Seine, after they 
had besieged the populous island of Paris without 
success. Three hundred vessels filled with these 
martial robbers surprised Appledore, near the port 
of Rye, and fortified themselves at Beamfleet. 18 
Many of the Scandinavians, who had sworn alle- 
giance to Alfred, took weapons, and united them- 
selves, to acquire booty, with the newly-arrived 
Northmen. Alfred hastened forward to the assist- 
ance of the distressed East-Saxons, and the citizens 
of repopulated London joined him. The walls of 



24 THE FIRST BOOK. 

Beamfleet were scaled, and the wife and children 
of Hastings, the Northern commander, fell, with 
all their booty, into the hands of the Saxons. 
Alfred acted with his usual dignity, and expressed 
himself in these generous words, " I carry no war 
with women;" and sent back to the astonished 
Hastings his spouse, with all the other wives of 
the Northmen. But even this noble action made 
no impression on the barbarians; they robbed and 
destroyed in England from the Thames to moun- 
tainous Wales, and fortified themselves a second 
time at Buntington, in Shropshire. The starving 
Northmen were, however, forced to abandon the 
castle, from which all provisions had been cut off, 
and hastened to the Thames. They took their ships 
to the little river Lea, 19 where it flows into the 
noble Thames, surrounded them with bulwarks, 
and in that state awaited the watchful Alfred. 

King Alfred regarded these fortifications as 
insurmountable; but, on an occasion of recon- 
noitring the enemy's camp on horseback, a scheme 
occurred to him, which was once executed by 
Cyrus; he drained off, by his army, the water 
from the Lea river, and the northern ships were 
wrecked on the shallow banks. The muddy valley 
was changed into a fertile meadow, and the dis- 
tressed Scandinavians were forced to leave their 



ALFRED THE HERO. 25 

fortified encampment. Many of them were an- 
nihilated by the swords of the Saxons, and the 
remainder found ships in the country of the East 
Saxons, wherewith they tried to injure the British 
by sea; but even on this element the prudent 
Alfred was too powerful; and being informed 
that the vessels of the Normans were very small 
and badly manned, he built larger ones, and 
armed them with a great number of mariners. 
The boats of the Northmen could not resist the 
superiority of the Saxon ships-of-war ; many of 
them were shoaled, others were taken ; and they 
avoided, during Alfred's life-time, to approach 
the island, where the wisdom of the king was 
constantly watching over his people. 

Wearied at seeing his kindness thus abused, 
Alfred invested two Saxon earls with the govern- 
ment of Northumberland and of the country of the 
East Saxons, and by these means withdrew every 
influence from the Scandinavians who had settled 
in England. The Princes of Wales, whom the 
great Egbert had been unable to sub,due, were 
forced to throw themselves on the mercy of 
Alfred, and seek his protection. He was created 
the general king of the south of Britain, which, 
a long time afterwards, assumed the name of 
England. His power was unlimited, because it 
c 



26 THE FIEST BOOK. 

was founded on the esteem and love of his 
people. 20 

Alfred's fame also spread beyond the sea. Vic- 
torious in war, generous to the vanquished, and a 
father to his people, he enjoyed the admiration of 
his times. The Saxons, who had escaped from 
their oppressed country, and dispersed themselves 
through various parts of Europe, reassembled under 
the protection of a beloved king. The North- 
men, who were still in possession of some parts of 
the British islands, willingly submitted to his just 
laws. The earth, which had long lain uncultivated 
and waste, was soon covered with grain and fruits. 
Peace and abundance were spread over the im- 
poverished land. 

Godwin, a Saxon nobleman, being a handsome 
youth, had been many years previously carried 
away by northern pirates and taken to Scandinavia. 
He gained, by his faithfulness and bravery, the 
favour of his robbers, and finally, as the Northmen 
ceased to attack England, his liberty. After having 
travelled over a great part of the island, he arrived 
at Winchester, and was presented to the king. 

The affable king heard with patient interest the 
narrative of the sufferings which the noble Saxon 



ALFRED THE HERO. 27 

had endured in his bondage, and Godwin closed 
his tale with a speech, in which he bore testimony 
to the wisdom of the king. " Liberty," said he, 
"has been doubly agreeable to me, since I have 
found my country so fortunately changed. When 
I was carried away, most of the towns of England 
were lying in ashes; the unhappy inhabitants 
were eagerly seeking either a hidden corner of 
the rocks, an impassable bog, or a cavern more 
fitted for beasts than for men, to conceal them- 
selves from the fury of the vanquishing robbers. 
The deserted fields were covered with thistles. 
The ornaments of gardens were unknown, and 
nowhere were the shouts of merry harvest heard. 
Fear and despair reigned on the alarmed coun- 
tenances of the flying people. The schools in 
which I was taught the sciences had been burnt 
down, and the hands, used to work, were forced to 
repose. The maxims of wisdom were not heard 
anywhere, and even the worship of the Almighty 
could only take place clandestinely, for the fury of 
the infidels pursued with blood-thirsty hatred the 
exhortations of the servants of God. We neglected 
the only consolation which might support us in 
this state of oppression. 

" Extreme is the difference in the state of En£- 
land at present; towns are rising from ruins in 
c 2 



28 THE FIRST BOOK. 

redoubled magnificence ; the places for the reunion 
of Christians have again attained the dignity which 
the service of God required ; the schools are filled 
with learned men, and the youth of the realm are 
trained to wisdom and virtue ; the fields are loaded 
with the richest seed, the voice of the joyful coun- 
tryman animates his labour, and resounds as he 
assembles the gifts of the earth. The desert bogs 
are changed into gay meadows; the residence of 
desolation is covered with herds, which nourish the 
countryman with their abundance. The former 
conquerers of the Saxons reside now in caverns or 
ruins, and in heaps of unhewn stone ; their fields, 
which they neglected to cultivate, are barren, and 
refuse their gifts. There remains no means for 
their indolence than to purchase with their blood 
the subsistence which they do not obtain by their 
labour. What is the cause of this vast difference 
between the Saxons and themselves? between 
England and Scandinavia? It is Alfred ! a single 
man has changed the face of the earth, and made 
of a desert a paradise." 21 

With all his modesty Alfred could not help ex- 
pressing the sincere pleasure he felt at the narra- 
tion of these truths ; his heart was secretly moved, 
and he promised himself to watch with even greater 
zeal over the future happiness of his Saxons. 



29 



THE SECOND BOOK. 



ALFKED'S LOVE. 



Serious history gives us no account of Alfred's 
love. 22 Tradition alone has preserved its memory 
in an ancient song, entitled " Edgar and Emma," 
which, even in our times, awaken the sentiments 
which it then did in the Saxons. This old tra- 
dition contains nothing injurious to the noble 
prince. We will therefore not omit it. 

Alfred was still concealed at his father's herds- 
man's, and known in the country by the name 
of Wulf. He had disguised his features so skil- 
fully that even his nobles did not recognize him. 
From the swamps of Athelney he often fell (with 
some other Saxons who had fled like himself) upon 
his enemies the Northmen, and avenged the suffer- 
ings which his people endured, thus providing them 
with provisions and arms. But the moment they 



30 THE SECOND BOOK. 

were closely pressed, they dispersed themselves in 
the lurking places known to every Saxon, and 
vanished from the sight of the Northmen. 

Wulf often fought with success, but was at 
length encircled by a legion of enemies, and had to 
oppose a superior force. He retired to a small spot 
nearly surrounded by water, which only allowed 
his opponents a narrow passage, whereby he could 
with a few men keep off their multitudes. He slew 
many a bold robber with his cross-bow, which was 
at that time a new invention, and to which the 
English of later times are indebted for many vic- 
tories. At last a northern warrior succeeded in 
wounding the unknown king with his spear. The 
loss of blood deprived him of his power, and in the 
darkness of night, which protected the Saxons, his 
companions were obliged to bear him away from 
the danger into a neighbouring castle, within 
which Ethelred, a Saxon earl, had enclosed himself 
with a plentiful supply of provisions, and many 
Saxons who had likewise taken refuge there. 

The Northmen, who dreaded both the valour 
of the earl, and the strength of his walls, durst 
not attack it. The sorrowful Saxons arrived at 
night before the castle gates, and requested admis- 
sion: — "Wulf," said they, "the dread of the rob- 



31 



bers, is wounded." The name of this avenger of the 
Saxons was known to every friend of the country. 
The gates opened for him, and Ethelred received 
him personally as a hero, although he knew nothing 
of his origin. According to the old customs of the 
honest Gerrnanians, Elswitha, a maiden of the 
greatest beauty and most elevated character, 
accompanied her noble father. Wulf was borne, 
fainting, into the hall ; a deadly paleness lay over 
his countenance. His arms, whose strength the 
Northmen had so often felt, now hung powerless 
by his couch. Elswitha had observed the 
wound, and dressed it herself. He was revived 
by strengthening cordials, and then given over to 
rest. 

Ethelred and his lovely daughter daily visited 
the suffering warrior. His wound required the 
greatest attention, and Elswitha often bound it 
with her own delicate hands. On such occasions 
Wulf would open his eyes, and observe the tender 
exertions of the noble maiden. Her youth, her 
beauty, and her kind compassion for his misfor- 
tunes, moved the young king ; and the long time 
his wound required to heal, allowed love to creep 
stealthily into his heart. He daily found new 
causes for admiring her. Her soft voice, her candid 
innocence, her lovely features, and her becoming 



32 THE SECOND BOOK. 

manners, so completely fascinated him, that he 
felt he could never leave her without being very 
unhappy. 

The noble Ethelred was acquainted with the 
virtues of his daughter. Business often called him 
suddenly from the castle ; and without suspicion he 
left the beautiful maiden alone with the king, who 
was slowly recovering. Alfred's virtues found no 
cause of alarm in his pure love. He perceived no 
obstacle to prevent him from uniting himself with 
the countess, whom, however, he wished to test 
before taking her as his companion for life. 

Alfred was personally unknown to all his Saxons. 
They only heard of him by his actions. He con- 
tinued to conceal his birth, and was believed by his 
followers to be a common Saxon warrior, brought 
up in arms. In spite of this abasement he endea- 
voured to please the maiden. She soon discovered 
sufficient signs of the love of the unknown ; the 
innocent proofs of his esteem and his admiration, 
made him involuntarily betray marks of his supe- 
rior education, which Elswitha could not har- 
monize with his coarse garments and appearance. 
Alfred could not conceal the manners of high life. 
He was the best poet among the Saxons, of whom 
none could write in their language with such ele~ 



Alfred's love. 33 

gance as himself. He sometimes entertained the 
lady with short poems, and sometimes with tales, 
which so charmed her that she was often obliged 
to prolong the time of her presence. 

Alfred related to her under assumed names, his 
voyages and wars, and told her that he had been 
a witness of the great battles, where in reality 
he had been the commander. He described in 
vivid pictures the splendour of great Rome, the 
beauties of happy Italy, with its shrubs of myrtle, 
and its forests of laurel, and the ever-blooming 
islands of the Mediterranean. Of her own charms, 
of her personal attributes, he only spoke as a 
common servant, 23 who had not the courage to raise 
his eyes to the elevated princess, but who, never- 
theless, felt her perfection. He disclosed his own 
sentiments in ballads which appeared old, but were 
only composed for herself, and only suitable to 
their mutual situation. When she blushed, and 
Alfred feared that she would break off the too bold 
conversation, he could turn it without restraint 
upon other topics, or respectful jokes. He accom- 
panied her singing on his lute, which he played 
with perfection; and which greatly increased the 
touching power of his agreeable voice. 

The countess was in the bloom of her youth 
C 3 



34 THE SECOND BOOK. 

and, according to the customs of those times, 
was brought up in the paternal castle, where she 
had opportunities of seeing many hardy warriors, 
and vigorous knights ; but Alfred's noble deport- 
ment, and the fascinating spirit of his conversation, 
had for her all the attraction of novelty. The 
king's features, partly disguised by artificial colour, 
could not be completely disfigured ; and the noble- 
ness of his soul shone through his bright eyes. 
The innocent beauty became imperceptibly pleased 
with this intercourse, soon also with the person of 
the unknown ; and her heart was captured before 
she was aware that it had surrendered. 

The impression which he made on the fair lady 
could not be concealed from the penetrating 
Alfred, and he ventured to let her perceive his 
love in more explicit words. Without a positive 
declaration, he sufficiently described the sentiments 
of his heart to be divined. Elswitha, without 
knowing how far she was ensnared, had no sus- 
picions of herself. She became accustomed to 
return his looks with reciprocal glances; her 
voice assumed the confidential sweetness which 
unstained youth grants to them who are inspired 
with their first love. She had little secrets which 
Alfred alone should know ; and accompanied him 
when he sang of love under imaginary names. 



alfeed's loye. 35 

The king's wound was now healed, and he found 
no pretence for remaining any longer in the castle 
of the earl. Besides, he was preparing himself for 
the enterprise which was to replace him on the 
throne of the Saxons, and the young man was 
already too wise to sacrifice to love the duty which 
he owed his people and his own dignity. But he 
could not tear himself from the charming bands of 
the fair Elswitha, without taking with him the 
certainty that his image alone occupied her heart. 
He allowed himself a dissimulation not in his cha- 
racter, but resolved that the short pain which he 
would cause the maiden should be recompensed 
by the most constant love. 

Ethelred was on a journey to a tournament 
given by another noble, a trial for which Alfred's 
arm had not yet acquired sufficient strength. 
Ethelred left him in the castle, which stood on a 
hill, at the foot of which was a grotto, formed by 
the rocks, from which descended a cool spring. 
To this place Elswitha resorted for shelter from 
the glowing heat of the sun. " Wulf, " said 
the affable maiden, " has not yet seen the noblest 
ornament of the castle/' and she led him to the 
grotto. Alfred had never ventured the least 
intimacy which could have intimidated her virtue; 
and although he pleased her, and she could no 



36 THE FIRST BOOK. 

longer conceal it, she only took him for a young 
warrior of ignoble birth, and to whom she would 
never abase herself, however agreeable his good 
qualities might be. 

Alfred profited by the moment when he was 
alone with her, and solemnly said, " It is all over, I 
must leave this castle, where I have met with so 
much kindness; but I am ungrateful enough to 
wish that I had never been received in it." Elswitha 
seemed surprised at this discourse ; but the dissem- 
bling king continued, " I cannot possibly conceal 
that I have seen the fair Elswitha too often, and 
that the recollection of her charms and her virtues 
will make me miserable for the remainder of my 
days." Modestly Elswitha blushed ; the pride of her 
ancestors revolted at the declaration of a man she 
thought unworthy of her. But an inward feeling 
spoke for the unknown, and checked the agitation 
of her anger: "Wulf forgets," said she, hesi- 
tatingly, " that he is a wounded man, and that my 
father's castle received him only as a warrior who 
needed our assistance, and was not unworthy of 
it." " Wulf forgets not the dignity of Elswitha," 
said Alfred, interrupting her ; " he knows best the 
value of the perfect lady whom he offends. But 
there are sentiments which no objections of reason 
can suppress, and no one has ever felt what I do 



Alfred's love. 37 

for Elswitha; I can die, and have encountered 
death, but I cannot conceal how unhappy I should 
consider myself if Elswitha could disdain me." 

" I know the merits of Wulf," modestly con- 
tinued Alswitha, "my father honours in him a 
warrior who has shed his blood for the rescue of 
the Saxons. It is not disdain, if I must avoid 
conversations which cannot make any impression. 
It is not for me to abolish the difference which the 
wise have made between various classes of men: 
Wulf will find in his own rank a beauty, who can 
listen to his love, and reward it." 

"Well! my sentence is pronounced," said Alfred, 
with a dissimulation in his features expressive of 
the deepest sorrow; "I unwillingly leave this cas- 
tle, but Elswitha will not prevent me from bearing 
with me an unfortunate love; in the danger to 
which my rank leads me, she will not prevent her 
image from being present in my last moments, and 
her name from being my last word." 

" But, Wulf," said the innocent maiden, quite 
terrified, "can a modest and deserving youth be so 
unreasonable as to require of a maiden concessions 
which she cannot grant, without being undeserving 
of him? Can he hope that Ethelred will approve 



38 THE SECOND BOOK. 

of his love? Can he require of Elswithato disobey 
her venerable father? Did I, at least, know to 
whom Wulf owes his birth, and how great the 
distance is between himself and Elswitha?" 

" Wulf," replied Alfred, " is not of mean birth, 
but fortune hath refused him her gifts. lie is 
poor, and was obliged by an inevitable accident to 
leave his country. Honour has forced him to shed 
a blood which called for vengeance, and the sword 
of the law hangs over him." 

Elswitha's pride became a little calmed as she 
learned that Wulf s birth would not give occasion 
to insurmountable obstacles. " The gifts of fortune 
she disdains ! Thousands of noble Saxons have lost 
their wealth by the hands of the conquering rob- 
bers, and only preserved their sword, without 
losing the esteem due to their origin.'' The 
heart of the damsel felt relieved, but she was too 
virtuous to give herself up to hopes which secretly 
and fearfully rose in her. "Oar conversation is too 
long," said she, "we cannot, this time, prolong it." 

Alfred considered these words as a token of 
assent, which promised him much, and he thought 
himself justified in remaining some days longer at 
the castle. The earl soon after ordered a heron 



Alfred's love, 39 

chase, which was to the Saxon noble the most 
agreeable pastime; he honoured the courageous 
Wulf too sincerely to deprive him of this pleasure. 
Falconry having been the chief diversion of his 
youth, Alfred could very ably govern that bird ; 24 
from this knowledge Elswitha concluded, and that 
with pleasure, that Wulf must be of noble origin, 
as that occupation was only practised amongst 
the higher classes. 

His falcon captured a rare bird ; he brought it 
with the noblest attitude to the lady, and begged 
permission to take his leave. This news was pain- 
ful, and the more she looked into her heart the 
more she found it filled with the image of the war- 
rior. Alfred visited her on the following day, and, 
after some general formalities, said to her, in an un- 
observed moment, "I go where my duty calls me; 
for ever will I venerate the lovely Elswitha ; for 
ever will I deplore my misfortune, which will not 
allow my love to disclose itself!" She sighed; his 
approaching departure aroused in her a painful sen- 
sation, which she could not conceal. " Oh ! why 
are such merits banished within a low situation ? 
Why is Elswitha not rather the daughter of a 
herdsman ? " 

Alfred replied in an eager tone, " Wulf would 



40 THE SECOND BOOK. 

never have declared his love, had he thought it 
impossible that Elswitha should be happy with 
him. His rank is not yet lofty enough to flatter 
a princely maiden; but if she loved me, my arm 
might raise me to a station, in which I should be 
less unworthy of her. Can I flatter myself that 
the difference of fortune is the only cause of my 
rejection? Can I hope that Elswitha will love me 
if I raise myself nearer to her rank?" 

Blushingly, and with down-cast eyes, the maiden 
responded: " How can Wulf require that I should 
give an answer on suppositions almost impossible 
to realize ? How can he awaken deceitful hopes 
in me? Amid the din of war, he will easily 
forget a young maiden, with whom accident alone 
has made him acquainted; but a lady living in a 
retired castle, without diversion, would be but too 
unhappy if she gave herself up to a love only ad- 
missible in a supposed case : Farewell, my worthy 
Wulf! become as great as thou art virtuous; my 
best wishes accompany thee." 

Not satisfied with this kind answer, Alfred en- 
deavoured to move the maiden to a more explicit 
avowal of her love for him: " Yes, then, I go; the 
fire which devours me daily increases, and I must 
quench it. If Elswitha did not disdain me, the dif- 



alfked's love. 41 

ference of rank would soon vanish before her; love 
would guide her down to me, and she would feel 
that the possession of a true heart has some worth 
even for the proudest beauty. But Wulf not only 
awakens no love in her, he does not even excite 
compassion. Did Elswitha think Wulf s fate 
worthy of that, she would alleviate it with one 
word — with one innocent word." 

"The word I am to say," said the blushing 
countess, "is a word too difficult to pronounce. 
I well perceive that Wulf will not be satisfied until 
I have confessed that I love him. But he will not 
be so unreasonable as not to perceive that my hand 
depends on a father, and my love shall never be 
parted from my hand. He who loves virtue, will 
not require of me an unvirtuous action ; but he will 
be satisfied when I avow to him that I myself wish 
that fate would equal our stations; and that I 
might then pronounce that word which he re- 
quires." She modestly held out her hand, wil- 
lingly allowed him to kiss it, and moved to leave 
him. 

"No," said the generous Alfred, "Elswitha shall 
not nourish the painful thought that she loves one 
undeserving of her. No ! she shall not let her heart 
be torn between a fond inclination, and the resist- 



42 THE SECOND BOOK. 

ance to her duty. She will see — shortly see that 
she does not act against the claims of her birth by 
being favourable to Wulf ; he will love her doubly 
because he has only to thank herself for her ten- 
derness, which overcame the pride of nobility." 
He once more gladly imprinted a kiss on her hand, 
and returned to Athelney. 

Some months later, after the celebrated victory 
over the Northmen, Alfred gave a grand feast to 
the victors who saved England; Ethelred was 
among the number. To the tournament given in 
memory of that victory, the noblest ladies of the 
rejoiced Saxons were invited. The knights com- 
batted in the tournament for the prize, and the 
recognized king sat upon an elevated throne, next 
to which was another royal seat, adorned with the 
greatest splendour, for the queen of the feast, who 
was to distribute the prizes. A noble invited to 
that distinguished function the fair Elswitha. Her 
father, being informed of the intention of the king, 
consented to the pleasure of surprising his daughter 
by leading her suddenly to the throne, and bade 
her accept that place. The king descended from 
his throne, held out his hand to the modest maiden, 
and led her to her seat. " There is, and for ever, 
the place of Elswitha." She blushingly raised her 
eyes, and immediately perceived in the king — 



alfked's love. 43 

Wulf, now freed of the disguising colour, and in all 
the splendour of his high dignity. " May Alfred 
hope," said he to the frightened maiden, motioning 
her to sit down, "for that which Wulf could not 
obtain? May he implore Elswitha's love, without 
which he cannot live?" She bowed respectfully, 
cast down her eyes, and said in a loud voice, " She 
who loved the warrior knows that she should 
venerate the great Alfred." She then looked upon 
the tournament, distributed to the worthiest 
knights the valuable prizes, and on the same 
evening gave the delighted king her hand, and 
became his spouse, whom alone he ever loved. 



44 



THE THIRD BOOK, 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 



During a period of thirty years, Alfred was not 
able to lay down his sword; he reconquered, 
gradually, the whole of England; he rejected 
the tax paid to the foreigners, obtained the domi- 
nion of the sea, and in fifty-two battles which he 
fought, acquired, in most of them, the victory, 
only by his well-calculated directions. At last his 
objects were attained, and a constant peace was 
purchased by great labour, and at the price of 
much noble blood. Alfred was now able to work 
for the interior amelioration of the kingdom, and 
a permanent tranquillity. 25 His fame is unex- 
ampled, for he did not allow victory to seduce 
him to a love of war. The benevolent king 
had too often seen how the noblest laurels were 
sprinkled with the blood of the bravest war- 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 45 

riors, how much misery war scattered over 
thousands and thousands ; how it snatched away, 
in the blossom of their years, so many courageous 
young men, the hope of their country, while 
others were forced to lead a miserable life, borne 
with constant pain, or sickness, — the reward for 
their courageous actions ; how the unchecked fire- 
brand of war consumed the wealth of millions; 
and how general poverty, followed by starvation, 
pressed forward to the destruction of the people. 
Alfred never attacked ; the wars which he under- 
took were only for the purpose of repulsing unjust 
aggressions, and the justice of his cause could alone 
induce his humane heart to sacrifice the blood of 
his brethren for the general welfare. 

But Alfred found, after peace was obtained, a 
disordered realm, in which the sword alone had 
for so many years governed, that the existing laws 
had protected no one ; where feeble innocence was 
forced to suffer, and the property of the inhabi- 
tants was not more secure than their lives. To 
extricate his people from this labyrinth the circum- 
spect king endeavoured to make himself acquainted 
with the laws of the wisest nations ; first, those of 
the Hebrews, proceeding from the All-wise, then 
with those of the Greeks, the Romans, the 
Danes, and the Saxons. He considered those 



46 THE THIKD BOOK. 

different laws as a work which the cleverest men 
had already prepared for him, and chose from them 
those which he thought applicable and useful to 
his people. 

The king was born in the darkest times, when 
the western nations had forgotten the language 
and arts of the Romans, when Charlemagne 
was obliged to borrow from the Arabian Aaron 
the works of art, when superstition occupied 
the throne of religion, and the priests began 
to claim general dominion. The king himself 
was brought up in those prejudices, and most of 
his confidants and teachers were priests. The 
manners and customs of the. Saxons were familiar 
to him, and served him as a guide. Alfred was 
a wise legislator; but, from the unavoidable 
faults of his time, many imperfections arose, from 
which no human gifts could protect him. Not- 
withstanding that Alfred was devoted to the 
Roman bishop who brought him up, he never 
forgot that he was the king, and that all power in 
his realm was entrusted to him by the supreme 
governor. He subjected the clergy to' the same 
laws which he dictated to his other subjects; he 
allowed the bishops no judicial authority, and 
chastised the guilty priests without soliciting their 
punishment from Rome, as his powerful grandson, 
the first Plant agenet, was forced to do. 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 47 

Alfred's laws became the laws of Edward, and 
the true source of English justice, in which 
a free and victorious people found its noblest 
privilege. He was the first who gave to each 
citizen others of the same quality to judge him ; 
the defendant could not expect any injustice from 
them whose judge he himself might be, and whose 
security depended upon the very justice adminis- 
tered to their brethren. Alfred ordered that the 
noblemen should be judged by twelve others of 
the same rank; and to the plebeian he appointed 
eleven other citizens, under the presidency of a 
noble, as judges. This prerogative still exists, 
and till the end of the last century, no other 
nation had adopted the system of equality of 
rank of the jury and defendant ; and, in fact, the 
defendant risks the same danger from the igno- 
rance of the juryman, from the obstinacy of one 
of them, or from the artifice of an unjust prince, 
as in other countries, from an arbitrary judge. 26 
Alfred dictated this manner of judging the im- 
peached to his Saxons, and also to the Northmen. 

Like all other laws of the northern people, the 
punishments which Alfred imposed for offences 
were very mild, and but few of them extended 
so far as the effusion of blood. 27 Rebellion, 
high treason, and the breach of public peace in a 



48 THE THIED BOOK. 

burgh, were alone punished with death, and even 
these could be redeemed, according to the old 
custom of the German people, by a certain weight 
of gold. Seduction of a married woman was re- 
garded in the same light as the above-mentioned 
offences, and as the most criminal of all, because it 
destroyed the most sacred bond of society, and 
divided those whose union was the most intimate 
and necessary for the hope of the future gene- 
rations. The priest who committed perjury, or 
stained his hand with blood, or went beyond the 
limits of chastity, was punished by the bishops, 
but forced likewise to present himself before the 
bar of the royal judges, and pay the king an 
adjudged fine. Persons who were suspected of a 
crime were obliged to give bail by others, or be 
taken into custody. 

The Northern pirates had given so many exam- 
ples of open violence, that robbing, and seizing of 
goods, was a general vice spread over the whole 
island; but this insecurity Alfred also found means 
to extirpate by a remedy never before known to 
the most civilized nations. Alfred first divided the 
kingdom into shires, the boundary of each of which 
was fixed. Every shire was sub-divided into hun- 
dreds, which were named according to their capa- 
bility of taking up weapons, and every hundred 



ALFKED THE LEGISLATOK. 49 

consisted of ten housekeepers ; every tithing had 
to give security, each one for all, and were bound 
all for one, that no individual should undertake 
anything against the laws, but appear before the 
judge when summoned. Xobocly could obtain the 
protection of the law without being registered in 
one of the tithings ; all that would not undergo this 
obligation were expelled that protection, and could 
be attacked with impunity by any one, robbed 
of their goods, and even of their lives. If one of 
the members of these tithings was suspected of a 
misdeed, and the whole tithing would not give 
security for him, he was imprisoned; and if he 
escaped before the warrant against him was put in 
execution, the tithing to which he belonged, and 
even the whole hundred, was forced to pay to the 
king a fine for this negligence. This tithing could 
avoid paying the fine, if all its members proved by 
oath their ignorance of the crime, and of the 
escape ; but such evidence must also have been 
given by others, and witnessed by the neighbour- 
ing tithing; and if those would not confirm this 
evidence, the defaulter was forced to pay a very 
heavy fine. The goods of the escaped individual 
were seized, and if the value was not found suf- 
ficient to pay the fine, the whole tithing was 
obliged to make up the deficiency, and to take 
the responsibility of bringing the culprit before 

D 



50 THE THIRD BOOK. 

the judge, as soon as they were able to secure his 
person. 28 If a traveller visited one of Alfred's 
subjects, he was considered during two days as a 
guest, and any grievance that he might commit 
could not be accounted to his host, provided the 
latter could swear that he had no knowledge of 
the crime imputed to his guest ; but if the visitor 
remained three days, the landlord was answerable 
for him as a member of his family. 

Alfred would not undertake to attack the here- 
ditary power of his earls, which was too deeply 
rooted in the constitution of the state; but he 
weakened that of the higher nobility, by in- 
vesting every county with a burgrave, named by 
himself, who surveyed the country, and fulfilled 
the same functions that the ambassadors did under 
the Carlovingians. The king likewise appointed 
a judge in every county, before whom all judicial 
cases were brought and settled. Those judges 
moderated the power of the burgraves as well as 
that of the earls. 29 

The effect of these regulations was miraculous. 
Shortly before that time, no one could venture on 
the highway without being armed, and obliged 
to defend himself, as the law was powerless, and 
unable to protect him. But all at once, a general 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 51 

security reigned throughout the whole country. 
The traveller beheld the approach of night with- 
out terror. His gold, as well as his life, incurred 
no danger. The king ordered golden bracelets to 
be hung on trees, and the attraction of the booty 
tempted no one to risk the penalty of the laws ; 
the officers of the king consequently brought back 
the treasures untouched. 30 So wise was the kind 
severity of the justice which watched over inno- 
cence, that it convinced the guilty their crimes 
were follies. 

The next labour of Alfred was to make a state- 
ment of all estates and pieces of land throughout 
the kingdom, with their measurement, revenues, 
and rent-rolls; this enormous work Alfred ac- 
complished at Winchester, in a century backward 
in science, and in a comparatively very short time. 
William the Conqueror renewed this land-book, 
and posterity has profited for nearly a thousand 
years, by the work of the wise Alfred, to fix 
taxes, as well as to settle contentions. 

On this statistical account of England, and the 
division of the country into hundreds and tithings, 
were based the courts of justice, which Alfred 
instituted in every county, in every hundred, and 
in every tithing. The obtaining of justice was 
D2 



52 THE THIED BOOK. 

facilitated to every citizen by this measure; and 
the high right of administering it was in this man- 
ner withdrawn from the hands of the ignorant 
grandees, who were only attached to arms. The 
burgraves and the judges presided in the courts 
of justice, and every Saxon was obliged to submit 
himself to the verdict of his tithing, afterwards to 
that of the court of the hundred, and finally to 
that of the county. 30 a 

Alfred found but few individuals capable of 
giving just decisions, but his wisdom was able to 
create them. He read, with unexampled ardour, 
all cases on which he was appealed to for his judg- 
ment ; and if one of his burgraves, or the judge 
had given an unlawful decision, their punishment 
was inevitable. Ignorance would not protect them, 
as every one should know his own abilities, and 
not claim the office of a judge if he were not qua- 
lified to fulfil the duty which this office required. 
If cupidity or hatred was the cause of bending 
justice to arbitrariness, the punishment was, con- 
trary to the Saxon custom, — death; and Alfred, 
who had so often pardoned the rebels and the per- 
jury of robbers, spared not one of the unjust judges. 
Forty-four judges having given unlawful decisi- 
ons, suffered capital punishment in one year, 30b 
amongst whom was Cadwine, who sentenced a man 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 53 

to death, whom, three members of a jury of twelve 
had found innocent; Hale paid for his wrongs 
with his life, because he spared a nobleman who 
had taken the estates of a Saxon by main force, 
and added them to the king's exchequer. An- 
other judge was likewise sentenced to death, for 
imprisoning an offender without giving him an 
opportunity of defending himself. Uskitell sen- 
tenced a culprit to death, who confessed a crime 
meriting capital punishment, because he could not 
resist the pain of the rack ; a crime for which no 
other evidence could be produced. 31 Alfred knew 
too well that the hardened wretch often derided 
and mocked justice, which could not condemn 
him, unless he accused himself; 32 whilst a man of 
sensitive nerves could not long resist the pain of 
the rack, and would rather calumniate himself, 
and pronounce his own sentence of death, than 
prolong insupportable torments. The torture has 
often been misapplied to punish the innocent and 
liberate the guilty. 

The certainty that the king would soon discover 
any injustice, or the insufficiency of a verdict, 
and the conviction that those errors would be 
resented severely by Alfred, compelled the judges 
to instruct themselves precisely in the law, and 
judge with strict uprightness — in fact, as though 



54 THE THIRD BOOK. 

the king was always present in the court. After 
a space of time,, the benches were filled with en- 
lightened men, who were strongly attached to 
their duty, instead of ignorant warriors. 

The king devoted himself to the general instruc- 
tion of his people. He applied his acquaintance 
with books and his knowledge of poetry to the 
amelioration of the general manners, and possessed 
the ability of illustrating his moral doctrines with 
fables, tales, and ingenious sentences, in order to 
make them generally useful. He knew that the 
charms of poetry introduced with more facility 
the severe thesis of virtue, and that the measure- 
ment of syllables, and its agreeable sound, im- 
pressed the laconic commands of wisdom. Alfred 
was himself the bard of his time, as well as 
the hero and legislator ; and the extreme favour 
which he testified towards learned and clever men, 
made the sciences objects of general veneration, 
and excited the most serious efforts to acquire 
them. Posterity has preserved old songs, in which 
Alfred is represented as teaching his nobles true 
wisdom, and the path to eternal happiness; he 
instructed the knight, the bishop, and the judge, 
in the exercise of their duties, and the dignity 
resulting from their discharge. We also read his 
exhortation to the young Edward, his successor^ 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 55 

whom lie educated in a manner worthy of a 
prince. 33 

Alfred had made the experiment on himself, 
that science contributes very much towards good- 
ness, and that the more a man discovers the inner 
beauty of virtue, the more he is inclined to love 
it ; but those from whom that beauty is concealed 
only find their happiness in the illusion of the 
senses. The books of the wise ancients repre- 
sent virtue as venerable, and vice as detestable; 
and the soul of the reader takes delight in the 
good which they so eloquently praise. The 
world is a much worse school, for there vice is 
frequently crowned with success, and timid virtue 
oppressed, because she detests the paths which 
alone appear to lead to fortune. Antoninus was 
formed by the writings of philosophers, and in 
the dark times, in which all the sciences were 
concealed, all true virtue, all generosity and 
humanity, seem to have vanished from the earth. 
Even under the despotic government of the servile 
Chinese, are the descendants of wild Scythians 
inspired by the doctrines of the old sages, and by 
the brilliant example of the forefathers of their 
people, for from among these barbarians arose 
Hangtschi, and Kienlong. 

During the long wars which had raged in 



56 THE THIRD BOOK. 

England, all sciences were utterly destroyed ; ni 
those times of misfortune man forgot all that was 
not immediately connected with his daily exist- 
ence. There was not be found, in the whole 
kingdom of the West- Saxons, a single person 
who was able to translate the spirit of a Latin 
book into his own language ; notwithstanding the 
whole liturgy of the Saxons was based on Latin 
books, songs, and lectures ; S4 Alfred was therefore 
obliged to search, beyond the seas, for the means 
of instructing his people. In Ireland, which was 
at that time less ravaged than England, he found 
John the Hibernian, who had spent many years 
of his life at Athens and Italy, and understood 
the long-forgotten languages of the Orientals, a 
man who was in favour with Charles the Bald, 
and lived with him in familiarity, a man who 
knew how to jest in epigram, but was murdered 
by his own scholars, who were irritated against 
him. Alfred called from old Saxony, the source 
of his people, a learned abbot to the convent of 
Athelingay. Asser of Monmouth was so much 
devoted to his duties, that the king was not able 
to keep him longer than half of the year at his 
court, notwithstanding he had endowed him with 
the bishopric of Winchester. 35 

Alfred was penetrating and experienced in the 
knowledge of men. He discovered in a lad 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 57 

driving pigs, his future talents, and having rescued 
him from his degrading employment, and given 
him a liberal education, at last raised him to the 
rank of a bishop. 

Neot, who was born in Cornwall, and canonized, 
acquired, during his irreproachable life, general 
veneration. He had educated the king, and was 
highly esteemed by him. To his remonstrances 
and counsels, many of the good deeds of Alfred 
are attributed. 36 

By the assistance of these learned and well- 
disposed men, Alfred was able to bring, eventually, 
the general instruction of his people into a better 
condition. He ascended the throne at a time 
when there was not in England a bishop who 
understood the sense of his Latin theological 
books; and a time arrived, during his life, in 
which no bishop existed in England who did not 
know at least the most of the theological matters 
that the dignity of his office required. The 
king facilitated the clergy in learning the more 
necessary of the sciences, by ordering the most 
useful books to be translated into the Saxon 
language, and he himself translated a work, in 
which the duty of a priest was described. For this 
beneficial purpose schools were absolutely neces- 
d3 



58 THE THIED BOOK. 

sary ; he therefore appropriated his treasury to 
these charitable establishments. Adult persons 
are generally inflexible, like old trees, and cannot 
be bent in another direction; but juveniles can 
be guided to the purpose to which a wise educa- 
tion will form them. Their pure nature accepts 
as readily the love of goodness and truth, as, 
when deprived of discipline, they are abandoned 
to their wild inclinations. 

Of all the great undertakings of Alfred, nothing 
raised his realm higher than the foundation of the 
Oxford school. Thousands of learned men, thou- 
sands of teachers of truth and virtue, have been 
trained at this seat of the muses; and their good 
actions have owed their first origin to the genero- 
sity and clemency of Alfred, who founded this 
seminary of virtue and wisdom. After a thou- 
sand years nothing was discovered at Oxford — 
no useful doctrine proved, — no touching discourse 
delivered, by which men were awakened to im- 
provement — no part of deep-searching science, by 
which the human spirit was enlightened — was writ- 
ten, which may not in part be attributed to Alfred. 
The erection of this new high school was, indeed, 
but an imitation of the cloisters, which were, in 
Alfred's time, the only domicile of science. The 
king erected three buildings, in which perpetually 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 59 

eighty young men should be brought up, from the 
interest of the amount devoted to this foundation. 
He submitted them to certain regulations, which 
were based on religion and science. This high 
school served to posterity as a model ; benevolent 
men and wise monarchs augmented it by several 
institutions, and it flourishes, even in our corrupt 
time, principally in respect to the fine arts, lan- 
guages, and theology. 37 

The spirit of order, which distinguished Alfred 
from all princes of his time, was extended over 
all the different branches of his government. He 
trained all his Saxons as soldiers of the country, 
without agriculture or domestic maintenance suf- 
fering by it. All the inhabitants of a county were 
counted and registered. One part of them was 
stationed in the towns and castles as garrisons, of 
which a sufficient number were so strongly for- 
tified, that every point of the kingdom was pro- 
tected; the remainder of the inhabitants were 
obliged to be prepared for sudden attacks, which 
too often occurred from the rebellious character of 
the Scandinavians. Half of them were summoned 
to move to the places where their assistance was re- 
quired, and the other part served as a reserve, and 
replaced the former after they had fulfilled their 
time of the service. Thus the Saxons were prac- 



60 TIIE THIRD BOOK. 

tised in arms, and Alfred was no longer forced to 
lead, with a heavy heart and with little hope of 
victory, rude and inexperienced countrymen 
against the practised Northern warriors. Every 
county possessed its commander, to whom was en- 
trusted the management of its military concerns. 
By salutary laws, and constant practice in arms, 
the Saxons again obtained the lost confidence in 
themselves, and met the dreaded Northmen with 
an impatience which their leaders alone could 
restrain. This great change in the Saxons, for- 
merly so unfortunate, was a fresh proof that a 
wise prince can effect anything, and that the 
hearts of his people are, in his hands, like clay, 
which he can mould to all his purposes. 

Alfred's vessels were large, and, according to 
the custom of that time, each vessel was propelled 
by forty oars, and were twice as high as the ships 
of the Northmen. The warriors, who threw their 
javelins and missive weapons upon the enemy, had 
a great advantage, against which no courage could 
resist. 38 Alfred consequently attained his aim, to 
set his kingdom in security against the Northern 
pirates, who in former times were driven away, 
after making many thousands unfortunate, and 
who now feared the shores of his realm, watched 
as they were by mighty fleets. 39 Alfred obtained 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 61 

more, through Providence, than he himself ex- 
pected. He, who had formerly lost nearly all 
his land, attained the dominion of the seas, the 
innate right of an English kingdom, and which 
Alfred's descendants have extended to all the seas 
which flow round the two hemispheres. 40 

Like his great successors, Alfred sought for his 
subjects new ways and means for fruitful labour; 
a wiser and more beneficial effort than momen- 
tary liberality. The latter only nourishes the 
subject temporarily; but the former enables not 
only himself, but likewise his descendants, to 
procure their existence at all times, and without 
difficulty. 

The arts are sisters, and must assist each other. 
That of war requires many others : — arts which 
work in metal, wood, and other vegetable produc- 
tions : — arts which draw and construct utensils of 
war: — in all of which England was impoverished, 
because, during thirty years war, the destructive 
sword of the Northmen had been hanging over the 
heads of its inhabitants, and all their power had 
been required for the single purpose of averting 
immediate destruction. All these arts Alfred re- 
called to his country. His liberality promised to 
the artist a sufficient subsistence ; his affability 



62 THE THIRD BOOK. 

augmented the pleasure of a sojourn in his king- 
dom; from all parts of Germany, from the realm 
of the Franks, which was then suffering under bad 
princes, from jealous Scotland, from Wales, (then 
reconciled with Alfred,) from the industrious Low 
Countries, artists and professional men hastened 
to seek the protection of a recompensing monarch, 
from whom no unmerited disgrace nor undeserved 
expulsion was to be feared. England was soon 
filled with clever men, able to execute perfect 
works for the king, and to teach the Saxon youths 
the best manipulations, so as to be, thereafter, as 
perfect as themselves. 41 

Alfred knew that a king is a man ; that he was 
unable to overlook all himself; that he could not 
select in all cases the best methods, and could not 
find out, for all purposes, the shortest means. He 
therefore consulted other men, who were fully 
instructed in the subject, and listened with great 
attention and patience to all who related to him 
the results of their experience; he compared the 
ideas of different wise men, and was then able to 
select the best advice given to him. 41a Under 
Alfred, England obtained three regular chambers 
of senate, in which business was transacted. The 
great senate of the realm decided the most im- 
portant concerns of the state, controlled the exist- 



ALFRED THE LEGISLATOR. 63 

ing management, and improved the laws. The 
bishops, the earls, the burgraves, and the judges 
had their seats in this council, and likewise the 
thanes, who had obtained hereditary fiefs from 
the crown, as a recompense for the services of 
war, which they had to fulfil. A more select 
council administered the business which required 
more secrecy or quicker expectations, and took 
into consideration the matters which the great 
senate should decide. 42 Alfred selected for this 
purpose bishops, abbots, and other clergymen who 
were constantly around his person, whose virtues 
were known to him, and who were enlightened by 
science. In the unfortunate time in which Alfred 
reigned, noblemen, and often princes, were, by 
reason of their ignorance, excluded from the en- 
joyment of the use of books, and even from the 
transaction of important business. Most of them 
were not able to read, and thought all their duty 
to the country consisted in bravely fighting, and 
courageously dying, for it. 

Alfred, nevertheless, neglected no opportunity of 
obtaining from every part of the country, and 
from every town, knowledge of that which re- 
quired amelioration, or which, by negligence, 
might be dangerous to the general welfare. He 
created a perpetual law, that twice in every year 



64 THE THIRD BOOK. 

the great council of the whole kingdom, the 
bishops, and the nobles of the realm, should assem- 
ble near the king; and in this great union the 
laws, which the king himself gave, should be 
deliberated. They decided likewise the contests 
amongst the noblemen, and reflected upon the 
general welfare of the realm. 

Notwithstanding the darkness of his times Alfred 
was enlightened enough to perceive how dangerous 
the importance of the earls was to him. They 
reached too near his power, and were considered 
much higher than the thanes; the wise king used 
several means to weaken the authority of these 
earls. 43 He decided all great matters himself, 
amongst which was murder, and allowed his judges 
to pass sentence for attacks on the highway, and 
other minor offences which took place in the coun- 
ties. The less important matters were brought 
before the justice of the tithing, then that of the 
hundred, and lastly that of the county court, in 
which the earls, the bishops, the burgraves, the 
judges, and the thanes, had their seats and voices. 
From this court they appealed to the king. The 
earls preserved the prerogative of the presidency 
the command of the soldiers, and the duty of 
making known the king's orders to his subjects. 44 



65 



THE FOURTH BOOK 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 



Order was once more restored throughout the 
realm. The military concerns, arts, sciences, and 
the constitution of the state were ameliorated, 
after which Alfred devoted his time in beautifying 
and improving of his realm, for which he had 
already prepared the means. The first of these 
occupations, strictly connected with the protection 
of the kingdom, was the re- establishment of the 
burnt towns, which were lying in ruins. London 
owes to him its rebuilding. 45 From a fortified 
harbour of the Northmen it was raised to a town, 
and from these beginnings it successively became 
the immense seat of commerce, and the metropolis 
of the whole realm. 

Winchester, which had been levelled to the 
ground under King Ethelred, was rebuilt with 



66 THE FOUETH BOOK. 

more solidity and magnificence by King Alfred. 
The Saxon towns had been nearly wholly com- 
posed of huts, and the torches of the wandering 
Scandinavians could burn them to ashes in the 
course of one day. Winchester, the principal seat of 
his realm, Alfred built of hewn and squared stone. 

The mouths of the great streams and the shores 
of the sea were protected by the king with new 
castles and fortifications, in which garrisons were 
constantly kept, who were able to keep off the 
first attack of the landing robbers, until the 
Saxons could be assembled and armed, to meet 
the pirates with sufficient force. This easy method 
of keeping off the sea robbers had been hitherto 
neglected by the Saxons, and they had paid for 
this negligence by their noblest blood. 46 

Alfred lived in times when religion and sciences 
were only to be found with the monks ; they were 
wise, and were regarded as saints. The king 
could not separate himself from the prejudices of 
his country ; his heart, devoted to the fear of God, 
mistook the esteem which the word of God merits 
with the veneration which the servant of that word 
claimed. He was attached to the priests, who 
were his most secret and confidential counsellors, 
He therefore built convents, and founded places 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 67 

of refuge for those who wished to retire from the 
bustle of the world. The first convent which he 
erected was at Athelingay ; he perpetuated by- 
it the memory of the degradation which he had 
there suffered; and on the same bogs which 
concealed him from the victorious Northmen, 
he founded a cloister on posts. Another house 
of God was founded at Shaftesbury, intended 
as a retreat for the daughters of his nobility ; and 
a burial place, for himself and his successors, was 
erected at Winchester, in another convent. 47 

He gifted the bishopric of Durham and other 
convents with lands in perpetuity. The liberal 
master did not perceive that with the best inten- 
tion, by the richness of his donation, he had 
given a real poison to the priests, a beverage 
which intoxicated them, and through which, 
power, pride, and tyranny prevailed in their 
hearts. 48 

Alfred, devoted as he was to religion, did not 
forget that external magnificence is essential to 
princes; the people do not value them by the 
goodness of their heart, but by the outward signs 
of their power and grandeur. Alfred, therefore, 
rebuilt the ruined palaces of the kings with hewn 
stones, and ornamented the country mansions, in 



68 THE FOTJUTH BOOK. 

which the kings sometimes sought a refuge, to 
recover themselves from the pressure of business. 49 

A general lover of order, he arranged the in- 
terior of his house on the wisest principles. His 
servants consisted of three divisions, each of which 
served four months in the year, and were at liberty 
the remaining eight. 50 

His virtue was not accompanied by a severe 
exterior, nor was he reserved in his manners. 
He admired the effect of music, having acquired 
his taste for that pleasure during his sojourn in 
Rome, for which purpose he invited to his court 
the most clever artists and the most agreeable 
voices. He knew that continual labour wearies an 
active mind, and that it should be awakened by 
ethereal arts, 

Like all Saxons, he was in his youth much 
given to hunting and hawking. The coolness 
of the morning, the fresh air, and the exercise 
of the body rendered this pleasure salutary, and 
Alfred knew how to adapt it to the general wel- 
fare, by directing his weapons against the wild 
beasts, which he extirpated, thereby protecting his 
subjects against the robbers of their seed. Of all 
the Saxons, he was most skilful in that practice. 51 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 69 

He took care likewise to perfect the produc- 
tion of the ornaments which contributed to the 
splendour of his court, and was the first of the 
Saxon kings who took into his pay artists able to 
work gold and precious stones ; 52 he was so expe- 
rienced himself in those arts as to be able to 
instruct others. To add to the pomp of great 
solemnities, a royal crown was made under his 
directions. • 

Of all the kings of Saxony, he was the first 
who formed the excellent plan of creating knights. 
This reward of martial service is in the power of 
princes; it does not diminish his treasures, nor 
does it produce a tax, which the poor, like the 
rich, must bear ; it has the same, and even more 
effect upon those endowed with it than either 
gold or silver. This reward, when applied to 
its real purpose, is a public testimony of the 
esteem of the prince, on which that of the people 
is generally based, one of the most sensible plea- 
sures a feeling heart can wish for. Alfred knighted 
his grandson, Athelstan, by giving him a purple 
dress, and girding him with a short Saxon sword 
in a golden sheath. Athelstan afterwards an- 
swered the expectations of his ancestor, who per- 
fectly appreciated him, for he became a powerful 
and respected king. 5 



53 



70 THE FOUKTH BOOK. 

Alfred divided his abilities and knowledge 
among many different branches of arts, in each 
of which he was distinguished. Of so many 
thousands of princes there scarcely ever was 
one who could, with such readiness and energy, 
partake of and oversee so many different occu- 
pations, of which there was not a single one 
but its object was for the general welfare of his 
people. 54 

But of all his exertions, the principal one was 
to please God. No one would, even in our 
present altered times, endeavour to diminish the 
glory of Alfred, because the divine service of his 
age still possessed somewhat of the monkish man- 
ners ; but those who know the human heart will 
only require of man what he can fulfil in the cir- 
cumstances in which Providence has placed him, 
and that will not be considered as a fault in him 
by the Almighty, or in human eyes. 55 

In the piety of this wise prince the taste of his 
age was also predominant; but Alfred was too 
experienced to imitate other princes, by abandon- 
ing the reins of government, to seek in a convent 
the tranquillity of his soul. Alfred remained a 
laborious prince, constantly occupied with the 
welfare of his people. 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 71 

He shared both his wealth and his time with 
religion. He made two equal divisions of his 
revenues, the one being intended for acts of bene- 
volence, and subdivided between the poor, the 
convents, and the schools. The half which the 
king kept to himself was distributed in equal 
parts among his courtiers, artists, professional 
men, and to strangers who were disposed to 
reside in his dominions. The maintenance of 
the king and his court was defrayed by the estates 
of the crown, which were let to countrymen for 
a certain supply of the fruits of the season, and 
the game which they caught. 56 

Time, which is certainly our own property, 
Alfred divided into two parts, one of which was 
devoted to the service of the Almighty ; in this 
he included that which he employed in writing 
the sentences he extracted from books, or his 
own thoughts, which he inscribed in his hand- 
books, from which arose collections with which it 
was his greatest delight to occupy himself. 57 He 
was so careful not to withdraw any of his time 
intended for devotion, (in an age when watches 
were not extant,) that he weighed and measured 
some wax candles, and regulated his time by 
them. The invention of protecting candles by 
transparent horn when glass had not yet been 



72 THE FOURTH BOOK. 

invented, is ascribed to him, but as it was not 
unknown to the ancients, it must have been lost 
in the times of disorder and ignorance. 58 The 
measurement and destination of his time Alfred 
dedicated to God after his victory at Althelney. 

His desire that illness and constant pain should 
prevent his giving himself up to sensuality, was 
indeed carried too far. In his younger years 
this desire, the fruit of his fear of offending God, 
was almost fulfilled to too great an extent; for 
during twenty-five years an internal and unknown 
complaint caused him great pains, and shortened 
considerably the days of his inestimable life. 59 
Can Alfred have doubted the wisdom of the 
Being of whom he implored this abstemiousness? 
and had the giver of all gifts no other means than 
to shorten Alfred's days, and render his life partly 
unserviceable, by causing pain to overcome all 
patience ? 

Alfred's sensitiveness to the duties of religion, 
caused the undiminished tenderness which the 
king preserved in so many disastrous wars, when 
perjury and infidelity were so often the rewards 
of his goodness. Nothing could overcome his 
resolution to forgive, as he wished himself to be 
forgiven. Ten times did he grant, even after the 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 73 

most troublesome victories, unconditional pardon ; 
and he never permitted himself to commit an act 
of vengeance. 

In his private life he was a faithful and amiable 
husband, a good father, and a gracious master. 
Although a great portion of his life was devoted 
to the safety of his people in inevitable wars, and 
his advantages in chivalry many and superior, 
he preferred, from his youth, the sciences to 
war. From the obscurity of the times, he had 
not learned to read in his twelfth year; but one 
book interested him to such a degree, that he had 
no rest until he could perfectly read it, and appro- 
priate its contents to himself. 00 

Rude as the Saxon language was at that time, 
from Alfred's lips and pen it became eloquent. 
He translated into Saxon the works of ancient 
wisdom, with a fidelity and expression which no 
other learned man could equal. These efforts he 
applied to the wisest of ancient laws, to history, 
sentences and parallels of spiritual works; the 
whole collection of the revealed writings he trans- 
lated into his own language. He likewise wrote 
his own history, and the events of his life, so 
full of contrarities and troubles; and even in 
those works of less consequence he preserved the 
E 



74 THE FOURTH BOOK. 

custom of beginning nothing that he was not 
capable of fulfilling. 61 

Notwithstanding his continual sufferings, the 
troublesome life which he led, and the many dis- 
asters which he met with, Alfred was ever good 
humoured and affable ; no agitation or weariness 
could disturb his constant serenity, a virtue pos- 
sessed only by the rarest characters ; common souls 
alone give way to such impressions, and allow 
their tempers to be ruffled by the slightest cause. 
They do not feel, during the momentary annoy- 
ance, the importance, for other reasons, of pre- 
serving their equanimity. Little as Alfred was 
affected by misfortune, still less was he elated by 
good fortune, or the feeling of his own dignity. 
He fought, he worked, with intrepid courage, and 
was as silent about his personal actions, as though 
they were not his own. Frequently did he keep 
his wavering people from flight, by exposing his 
own forehead to the fury of the enemy; and 
withal he considered the effects of his bravery as 
accidental and of no merit, because his soul was 
wholly fixed on God, and in Him alone he trusted* 

His glory flew, in the few years of his too-short 
life, beyond the limits of Europe. The voice of 
the people willingly gave him the name of the 



ALFKED THE SAGE. 75 

Great Alfred, whilst that title has only been 
borrowed by many other princes from the flattery 
of courtiers. Rome venerated his virtues, and 
the Patriarch of Jerusalem testified over many 
seas the respect which the inhabitants of this far 
country bore for the virtues of the King of the 
Saxons. 62 From all countries various artists and 
learned men hastened to the throne, whereon sat 
a Christian, a philosopher, a hero, and a promoter 
of all useful and fine arts. 

The king had, by the beautiful Elswitha, two 
sons; Edward, the elder, a wise king and legis- 
lator, and Ethelward, a learned prince, who died 
in his youth at Oxford; then the courageous 
Athelfleda, the spouse of the Earl of Mercia ; after 
his death she governed his extensive country, 
vanquished the rebellious Northmen, and founded 
several towns, amongst which are Chester, Staf- 
ford, and Warwick ; she likewise subdued a part 
of Wales, which had previously separated from 
England, and merited the name of the king, whose 
virtue she possessed. 63 

Athelswitha was married to Baldwin, the power- 
ful Count of Flanders, and one of her great-grand- 
daughters, Matilda, was wife of William the Con- 
queror. From her originated the Plantagenets, 
E 2 



76 THE FOURTH BOOK. 

by a second Matilda ; and from them, after having 
governed over England three hundred years, 
arose the Tudors and the Stuarts, whose rights 
have now devolved to the house of Guelph. A 
third Matilda, daughter of the first Plantagenet, 
was married to Henry the Lion, and was the 
female ancestress of the Guelphs, in which the 
blood of the Stuarts, with that of the Plan- 
tagenets is united ; and by these two progenitors 
the royal blood of Alfred and Bodan became 
the powerful governors of mighty Britain. Pro- 
vidence has granted to their sceptre immense 
countries in another hemisphere, which at the time 
of Alfred was quite unknown to the old world. 
The Niger and the Ganges flow under their domi- 
nion, and the great empire of Hindostan vene- 
rates the descendants of Alfred. But far more 
glory than the possession of all these countries 
give is due to the inherited virtue, the love of the 
arts and sciences, which gave beneficial peace the 
preference over war and triumph; and the matri- 
monial felicity which is possessed by the succession 
of the Guelphs and Alfred. Thus has Providence 
fulfilled, that the seed of those who please God, 
should reach to fifty generations from their illus- 
trious predecessor. 

Alfred died from the effects of an illness which 



ALFRED THE SAGE. 77 

he had himself prayed for, having only lived 
fifty-two years. His death occurred just at the 
end of the ninth century, when the Carlovingians 
were on the decline, and the grandson of Robert 
the Powerful approached every day nearer to the 
frontier of the West Franks. Piety, which had 
been Alfred's guide during his life-time, did not 
forsake him at his death. He descended from his 
throne like a person travelling from one royal 
seat to another, convinced that he would there be 
likewise happy. He hoped to obtain, from the 
Supreme Judge, a better life, in which no terres- 
trial privileges could attend him : the recompense 
for a life devoted to the welfare of the people 
entrusted to him; and no one has ever doubted 
that with so many good qualities his little in- 
evitable faults would be veiled by the supreme 
goodness of the just Judge of the world. 

[His last three years were not distinguished by 
any particular actions, and historians have recorded 
nothing of that period of his life but that he 
devoted it to the already mentioned occupations, 
and conversations with his counsellors, and prin- 
cipally with his private counsellor, Amund, a 
fragment of which will be found in the following 
book.] 



78 



THE FIFTH BOOK. 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 



Amund, Alfred's counsellor, was born at the feet 
of the Seven-mountains, on the shore of the Dale 
River, and was the oiFspring of Arwid the Hero. 
He spent his juvenile years, like the northern 
warriors generally, in gymnastic practices ; he was 
a powerful wrestler, a clever archer, and a cou- 
rageous hunter. He would attack the furious boar 
in his own cavern, and, standing upright before his 
terrible paws, force his knife into his heart. He 
sang war ballads, and his heart was elated at the 
names of old heroes. He burned with the desire 
to make the name of his paternal castle renowned 
by his actions, and afterwards to obtain the reward 
for the blood he had spilt in the hall of Odin. 

Hastings, the northern prince, was going to 
Byzantium, and was the commander of a legion 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 79 

of Waregern, the only real warriors whom the 
degenerate Greeks then possessed, and to whom 
alone they could entrust the protection of their 
prince. Faithful and inexperienced in the treason 
of the new Romans, true to their oath, brave and 
constant, these few combatants were the support 
of the sinking empire. The young Amund accom- 
panied the hardy Hastings, and both were enrolled 
under the Waregern. Many a deed of faithful 
courage and sturdy resolution was performed by 
the worthy youth. Enlightened as he was, he 
acknowledged the advantages which remained to 
the Greek nation. He studied their history, also 
the constitution of their court and their state, 
which Europe long imitated, though it despised 
the cowardice of the Byzantians. He learned 
their laws, and enriched his mind with their 
treasures of ancient wisdom. 

Young and gay, he fell in love with the beau- 
tiful Theophane, friend of the Princess Eudoxia, 
who was beloved and married to Hastings. The 
noble form of the Greek lady, her manners, and 
even the timid modesty with which she declined 
his advances, augmented Amund's inclination ; but 
he gained this beauty at last, by noble actions, 
and by saving her father, who would have been 
murdered, on the occasion of a rebellion of the 



80 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

Blues and Greens, by the party who was against 
him. Amund's sword soon opened a path to the 
unfortunate man, and the faint-hearted Byzan- 
tians fled before the heavy blows of their op- 
ponents. Victorious, he restored the liberated 
father to the beautiful lady. Theophane was not 
ungrateful to so much merit, and accepted his 
hand, and the worthy man, who so much loved 
the bride, adored the spouse. 

An imperial family was brought suddenly to 
ruin ; and Hastings, who defended it in vain so 
long as he could handle his sword, was over- 
powered; nothing remaining for his safety but a 
ship which was lying in the harbour; thither he 
brought his princess and his comrade, Amund, 
with the fair Theophane. They were fortunate 
enough to reach the mouth of the Niester, by 
roads at that time daily traversed by the Scandi- 
navians, and arrived at the friendly Novogorod, 
returning from thence to Sweden. 

The view of the rough and barren mountains 
was extremely unpleasant to the fair Greek. She 
found there no resemblance to the charming cli- 
mate which the mild south spreads over Byzantium. 
Huts of immense stone, insufficiently protected 
against the cold, replaced the magnificent palaces 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 81 

in which Eudoxia had passed her juvenile years. 
The retarded spring was not free from sharp 
winds, and the long winter destroyed the orna- 
ments of the earth. Harvest brought not with it 
the sweet grape; the rich fruits of Greece glit- 
tered not on the trees ; and, in the eyes of the 
delicate princess, the earth appeared always clad 
in mourning. 

Hastings loved the fair Eudoxia, and promised 
her that he would with his sword conquer milder 
countries, in which she should govern. He took 
her with him to Bemfleet, and likewise the 
charming Theophane, who were in the fortified 
camp of the Scandinavians when the Saxons 
attacked it, while most of their warriors were 
absent. Hastings' rage was unbounded when he 
learned this misadventure, and even the brave 
Amund shed tears of despair when informed of 
the loss of his Theophane : But the noble Alfred 
dried those tears. "Go," said he, to the fair 
spouses of his enemies, "tell the Northmen that I 
wage no war with women ; and only carry it on 
forcedly with the oppressors of my people: my 
greatest desire is to gain their friendship." Alfred 
had admired the Greek beauty, but his temperate 
heart was closed to all foreign charms. 64 
e3 



82 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

Hastings requited Alfred's generosity with re- 
doubled enmity ; but Amund was more noble- 
minded, and perfectly happy in the arms of his 
beloved Theophane. He soon acquired the friend- 
ship of the hero, whom he had to thank for the 
pleasure of again embracing her. She herself 
praised to Amund the careful generosity with 
which Alfred endeavoured to avert from the north- 
ern ladies any rudeness on the part of the Saxon 
warriors, and the delicacy with which he alleviated 
the sufferings of their imprisonment. 

As the Northmen were forced to leave England, 
and bound themselves no more to molest the 
Saxons, Amund repaired, fearlessly, to Alfred's 
court : — " Thanks to thy virtues, thou hast now a 
combatant more at thy disposal; I am Amund, 
friend of Hastings, but thine, if thou acceptest 
me." The name of Amund was not unknown to 
Alfred; he combined elegant manners with 
bravery, and wisdom with both. Alfred extended 
his royal hand to him: — "I accept thy friendship," 
said he to the Scandinavian, "thou shalt share 
my fortune." The queen embraced the fair Theo- 
phane, and Alfred's court became to the married 
couple a seat of constant pleasure. Amund fol- 
lowed the king in all his wars, and, of all his 
friends, was the most ready to avert from his 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 83 

prince the enemy's weapons, presenting his own 
breast as his shield. 

After Alfred had for ever dispersed his external 
enemies, he was constantly occupied in estab- 
lishing order, and increasing the general pros- 
perity of his Saxons; Amund pursued with a 
vigilant eye every step of the legislator. He 
compared the constitution of the Saxon kingdom 
with that of the monarchy of Byzantium, with 
those of the Romans, and of the better portion 
of the Greeks, with whose history he was closely 
connected. 

The faults of the Saxon constitution did not 
escape his penetration; and he observed there 
scarcely remained any of the old liberties of the 
Germans, but a powerful nobility, near whom the 
nation languished in ignominous contempt. 

Long had Amund improved his views by fresh 
information; long had his heart burned to disclose 
the truth to a king, who loved and listened to it ; 
at last he was irritated by the infidelity of some of 
the nobles, whom Alfred had vanquished and 
pardoned, as he was wont to do. The king had 
just repaired with Amund to a retired estate, not 
far from his royal residence, when his kind nature 



84 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

deeply felt the necessity, in which he had so 
often been placed, to arm himself against some 
rebellious nobles. " I love my people/' said the 
worthy prince, "and do all that my foresight 
can imagine to make England happy ; how is it 
then possible that her sons do not love me ? Me, 
who love them above everything." Amund bowed 
to his royal friend : — " Will Alfred listen to his 
servant, who loves him? will he allow him to be 
free, and to disclose to him his thoughts as they 
rise in his faithful heart? The Saxons are not 
worse than other people. If they are ungrateful, 
the source lays in the unbalanced constitution of 
the stated Where there exists no equilibrium, 
those are always the most discontented on whose 
side the scale is lightest. Thy nobility are too 
great, and not subservient enough to the laws; thy 
commoners are too little, and between the nobility and 
them the distance is too greats The greatest have 
but one step more to ascend to become kings; 
and until that step is made, they never will be 
quiet. If thy Saxon commoners had remained in 
their natural dignity, the nobles would have found 
in them a counterpoise, which would prevent them 
from too hardily raising their wings aloft. 

"Amund has long seen the world; he is ac- 
quainted with the constitution of the free north : 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 85 

the Saxons have likewise formerly lived in liberty ; 
but thy ancestors, the conquerors of Britain, have 
given up the reins of government to the nobility, 
and left the commoners as their victims," 

Alfred, who gladly listened to the counsel of 
faithful friends, replied : " My friend has seen the 
Orient, what has he there found, whereby the 
constitution of the Saxons can be improved?" 

"Far from us," said the warrior, "in the east, 
there is a powerful realm, the greatest on the sur- 
face of the globe, the empire of the Serens, (North- 
ern-China,) whence the silk is sent, passing by the 
source of the Ganges, over the snow-capped moun- 
tains of India, and through Persia to Byzantium, in 
the isles of the ^Egean Sea, in the mild Cos ; they 
produce a web, the work of a kind of caterpillar. 
Theophane herself has embroidered with this silk, 
and is now working a veil, which she intends for 
her kind protectress, the beautiful Elswitha. 67 The 
empire of the Serens is the seat of arts, the 
triumph of agriculture, and the mother of in- 
numerable inhabitants ; for, when compared to 
the blessed Kathay, the remainder of the earth is 
but a desert, with a few huts scattered over it. 
So I have been informed by merchants, who had 
known in India Scrcn traders, and thence brought 



86 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the productions of that intelligent nation to 
Byzantium. 

" The Serens are, without doubt, the oldest of 
civilized nations. They had already wise legis- 
lators and useful arts, when the Greeks subsisted 
upon rapine and fallen acorns, which nature pro- 
duced for the inactive savages. Kathay is the 
seat of order ; the emperor is the father of all his 
subjects, and governs so many millions with the 
same veneration as the father of a family governs 
his children. He receives from them the same 
love and obedience which they give to their 
parents. He is the only source of all honour, and 
under him all his subjects are coins of equal 
weight, whom the imperial stamp alone can value 
or distinguish. 

" They acknowledge no nobility; all commands 
are issued by the emperor, and gradually com- 
municated from the higher to the lower officers of 
the empire down to the lowest countryman ; and 
there are none who resist these orders, or who 
would dare delay them in the slightest degree. 
No one brings from his cradle superior rights, which 
can raise him above the common peopled The only 
existing nobility in that country are the descent 
dants of a sage, who, sixteen hundred years ago a 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 87 

taught the virtues in the realm of the Serens, at the 
time when Pythagoras taught the rude Greek the 
art of surveying, and the knowledge of divinity." 

Alfred, who had never seen any nation in which 
the nobility did not form the most venerated part, 
here interrupted his friendly narrator : — " Such a 
nation" said he, hastily, " must be cowards, for the 
delicate sense of honour can alone supersede the love 
of life, and nowhere can that sense so vividly pre- 
dominate as in the noble, to whom the least affront is 
insupportable, and to whom life becomes a burden if 
spent without honours.*® The noble is, besides, 
free from common cares, his hands are hardened 
for the sword, as is his body for riding ; hunting 
has prepared him for war, and victory is his only 
vocation, the object of his life. The needy coun- 
tryman forgets honour in the exertions necessary 
for his nourishment. Accustomed to humiliation, 
he feels not the lofty aspirations which a hero 
must feel. 70 Brought up to mean labour, he has 
not the knowledge to spur on a spirited horse 
against the enemy, of pressing with lowered spear 
among their thickest throngs, of giving wounds, 
and avoiding them. Often have I experienced 
that the strength of my armies lay in my nobles." 

Amund replied: — "The well-read Alfred knows 



88 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the history of the Greeks ; they had no nobles ; 
and who was more courageous than a Spartan, who 
could scarcely name his father, who was only the 
son of the country, but not the son of the noble ? 
Too narrowly is the sense of honours encompassed in 
one class, and that one ichich can never be numerous, 
because it lives in idleness, and obtains its subsistence 
by the sweat of those beneath it. Such a constitution 
is the best, and such nations must be the most vic- 
torious, in which the sense of honour is spread over the 
whole population, where every citizen glows for victory 
with the same ardour that inspires the general. 11 
It is not the deficiency in the nobility that intimi- 
dates the Serens ; there are other reasons. The 
terrible Saracen is a camel-driver ; but who fights 
more desperately? who has acquired more vic- 
tories ? who has subdued more countries than the 
free strollers of Sandy Arabia ? There are, among 
the Serens, too many shopkeepers and artisans. The 
greater number of inhabitants consist chiefly of men 
whose limbs have lost their power, from being employed 
in sedentary occupations, which do not strengthen 
their arms by constant exertions. They can neither 
support inconveniences, rude winds, or wearying night- 
watches. 12 Another cause of the cowardice of the 
Serens is the servile treatment which they endure 
from their superiors. Their immense realm is 
governed by the whip. The most eminent Seren 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 89 

is subject to the basest punishment, the courage 
of the nation thus loses its energies. It bends with- 
out resistance under the yoke, and feels no wish for 
honour, but merely for the means of subsistence, and 
the lowest pleasures of the senses.™ The realm of the 
Serens is certainly less suitable for war than for 
peace ; but its prince requires not conquests ; he 
is satisfied with the immense territory which he has 
inherited of his forefathers, and refuses the volun- 
tary submission offered him by his neighbours, 
whom the wealth of the Serens have attracted to 
seek the protection of their governor, the father 
of his people. 

"This great realm enjoys, however, the extreme 
advantage, that none of the great venture to revolt 
against the emperor, being alone, and not rooted 
in or related to any powerful nobility. The first 
storm of imperial disgrace consequently annihi- 
lates him without resistance. A king of the Saxons 
cannot punish any of the nobles without, at the 
same time, injuring his relations, his race, and 
often the whole nobility, who look upon the 
humiliation of one of them as the possibility of 
humiliating the whole body. 

"Warlike courage is less required by the Serens, 
as they have only dispersed and divided neigh- 



90 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

bours, who can, perhaps, disturb their limits, 
but they cannot dangerously wound the realm. 
From the beginning of history, the empire of the 
Serens has always remained invincible. The race 
of kings has been extinguished, other Serens have 
soared up to the throne, but no foreign power 
could subdue the realm. 74 

" Much merit is due to the Serens. If we trace 
back to great antiquity, to an epoch in which no 
other realm of the world existed, when we reach 
the limits of the fabulous, where history com- 
mences, we always find a well-mannered, indus- 
trious, and innumerable people, always arts, laws, 
sages, and great princes, a Yu 9 a Tschung, a Wen- 
wang, and a Wawang, 

" But," continued Amund, bowing respectfully 
before the king, " I have not a blind reverence for 
unlimited power ; lama free-born Goth, whose 
heart would not subdue itself to a prince, did not 
veneration lead me to serve him, whom I regard 
best fitted for command, I will show to the king, 
from my own experience, the consequences of un^ 
limited power." 

After some days, the fair Theophane accom- 
panied Amund to the court, She brought to the 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 91 

noble Elswitha a white veil, woven of glitter- 
ing silk, in which she had embroidered flowers 
and animals in the most splendid colours, in 
the brilliant tints with which nature alone, in 
mild countries, paints its creations, and which 
the weaker rays of the sun, in northern regions, 
is not able to accomplish. The queen admired 
the art and the beautiful tissue, and requited the 
present of the charmiug Greek with the finest 
linen from Flanders, whose slender thread ap- 
peared almost thinner than could be spun by 
human hands. "In our frosty country, "said 
Alfred, " nature promises less, and leaves more to 
the intelligence of man; but industry likewise can 
here find treasures, which contribute as much to 
the happiness of the people as the fertility of 
nature." 75 Theophane acknowledged that she had 
seen nothing in that seat of arts, Byzantium, to 
surpass this work, and with regard to utility, flax 
would not yield to silk, 76 

Alfred invited Amund to continue the conver- 
sation: — " The absolute power of the prince is a 
yoke," said the warrior, "under which no one can 
be happy. Vainly the favour of the court smiles 
on us; who can quietly enjoy such uncertain hap- 
piness, when, without fault, a wrinkle on the brow 
of the prince is sufficient to disgrace us? 



92 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

(i A good ruler certainly employs his great power for 
the welfare of his people; and does more good, as he is 
less curbed. He watches over his servants, attracts their 
attention, and does not allow the lowest of his people 
to live under unjust oppression.' 11 Such were the 
first heads of the imperial races of the Saxons ; 
but those who were generated of them in the 
purple, who rose to the enjoyment of higher 
power, without the necessity of performing good 
actions to merit the throne, soon regarded power 
as the means of satisfying their desires. They 
filled their palaces with the fairest women; they lost, 
by spectacles, the time they owed to their people ; and 
diversion teas their only business. 7 * Their officers, 
selected by the advice of miserable eunuchs, or 
by their concubines, studied no other interest 
than their own greatness, their consequence, 
wealth, and pleasure ; every one successively used 
his subordinate as the instrument of his desires ; 
and the lowest, the most useful citizen, starved with 
excessive labour, so that the courtier, the judge, and 
the officers of the crown, might live in haughtiness 
and extreme splendour. n The people sighed and 
prayed to heaven for relief; they soon murmured, 
and at last death was preferable to their situation ; 
they gave themselves up to despair; ambition 
furnished them with leaders; courageous and 
active rebels drove the degenerate voluptuary 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 93 

from the throne, and extirpated the race, which 
had become an insupportable burden upon the 
people. 80 

"Nothing is more dangerous than universal 
power. He, who can murder his servant by a 
frown, and can, with impunity, reward years of 
vices with poison, 81 himself arouses the annihila- 
ting dagger, from which no one can find himseli 
secure; he who can punish without the aid ot 
the law, exile at will, and suspend the functions 01 
his officers of rank, applies his power to the 
execution of his desires. When he is driven 
by his corrupted lusts, he attacks the modesty 
of the noblest women, the property of the 
poor, the treasures of the church, the honour 
of the judges, and the property generally of his 
subjects, to satisfy them. He strives to tri- 
umph by unnecessary wars and victories, which 
his subjects are forced to purchase with their 
blood, He expends on splendid palaces the sub- 
stance of the citizen; he dissipates on insigni- 
ficant solemnities, in spectacles and banquets, 
the bread and property of his people. 82 Alfred 
knows what monsters were formed in great 
Rome, by the philter of unlimited power, from 
those who in their youth promised to become 
somewhat better. God alone is All-wise ; to Him 



94 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

belongs universal power; but faulty man needs 
bonds to limit his desires. • 

"As no one prevents the absolute monarch 
from the fulfilment of his will, so his first minister, 
his general, judge, and secretary, become despots; 
the whole nation will sink under the yoke which 
the powerful always impose on the weak, and its 
weight will crush the common man, who is not 
able in his turn to oppress another. 83 

" Such a monarch is beloved by no one. Every 
citizen is regarded by him as a tool destined by 
Providence to fulfil his will, whose services he can 
enjoy without being bound to any obligation to- 
wards him. The citizen looks with fear and hatred 
upon the palace in which the dissipator debauches 
his blood and his property. He takes no interest in 
the preservation of his prince, and acknowledges 
no greater misfortunes than that which affects 
himself. An audacious rebel assaults, with a handful 
of ruffians, the deserted palace, and no citizen offers 
to protect the monarch who is the sole cause of his 
misfortunes. 8 * I have myself witnessed the tragedy 
which precipitated the unfortunate Michael from 
the throne. He had neglected the welfare of 
the realm, was a squanderer, who forgot, over his 
wine, his duty as father of the people. A man 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 95 

of the lowest class of his subjects arose by his 
good qualities to the highest dignity. He found 
a murderous rabble at his disposal; before the 
Waregern could use their weapons, Michael was 
killed, and our fidelity no longer found any object 
to protect; thus fell, under the sword of a few 
robbers, the successor of the Constantines and the 
Caesars. The population took so little interest in 
his fate, that no tears were shed, not a sigh heard, 
no shop closed, no business disturbed; and after a 
few hours, the whole of Byzantium shouted long 
life to the Emperor Basilius, with the same joyful 
devoutness as though he had been the real heir to 
the throne. Had Michael bound his crown to the 
welfare of his people, had the laws been his 
boundary, or had his fall interfered with the 
interests of the country, Basilius would never 
have had the rash thought of rising to the throne 
over Michael's corpse. 85 But the despot is like an 
inverted pyramid, an immense weight rests on one 
point on the overturned top. The breeze of a 
western wind is sufficient to throw down the non- 
sensical building. 

" The oppressed subject does not at all times seize 
the poignard ; he often bends to the yo\e with inactive 
murmurs. Reliyion may console him in chains, or 
the fear of a paid army force him to patience ; 86 but 



96 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

even then the despotic monarch is unhappy, far 
more unhappy than the prince who is bound by 
laws ; the latter has around him a particular body 
of the state, who report the truth to him ; he has 
the nobles of the realm who will not obey unjust 
orders; he has laws which he cannot go beyond 
without danger and resistance ; all these powers 
which restrain him, watch at the same time over 
his security. 87 He becomes not unjust, he does not 
encroach on the property of his subjects, nor the 
lives of his servants, because he cannot attain his 
purpose without dishonouring himself, and incuring 
insurmountable resistance. He learns from experi- 
ence, that those inhabitants alone willingly obey who 
love their master, and to acquire that love he must 
make them happy; and that he cannot make his people 
happy without being himself industrious, kind, and 
just. m The bare thought of many an action, which 
to the oriental despot is but play and pastime, 
would trouble the whole soul of a prince, who 
recollects that his grandeur is based on the gene- 
ral veneration, which is founded on his virtues. 
What a tyrant of Byzantium calmly projects and 
executes in cold blood, as the blinding of an officer 
of the state, or the mutilation of a suspected noble, 
has never entered the thoughts of a Scandinavian 
king." 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 97 

Alfred replied, " I observe that Amund is not 
favourable to the power of the nobles, nor to the 
unlimited sway of the king. But does he know 
of a constitution in which all powers are brought 
into equilibrium, where the king is secured against 
disobedience and rebellion, and the people against 
oppression? I have studied history, and find that 
government the best, in which a virtuous man reigns; 
it may be a king — or, as it was at Sparta, the nobles — 
or, as at Rome, the people. 89 When, on the contrary, 
the rulers are unjust and spoilt, then is the state 
likewise unhappy. Thus it was under the bad 
Caesars at Rome, under the unjust people at 
Athens, and under the oppressive nobles of the 
later Sparta ; the constitution of the state cannot 
prevent the evil consequences of a government 
which follows its own vicious desires." 

Amund bowed before the king. " Alfred loves 
truth, and shall hear it, even though it be con- 
trary to his own thoughts. But that cannot be 
the case ; for he who seeks the truth will always 
find it. All that is administered by man is cer- 
tainly imperfect; but still the influence of the form 
of the constitution is very great on the morals of 
the people, and even on the government of the 
prince. 



98 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

"I have proved and experienced the abuse of 
unlimited power. In the hands of Alfred it is a 
blissful gift of heaven ; but how seldom does fate 
give us an Alfred ! The wisdom of a legislator 
must prevent the unworthy son of a Solomon 
from destroying all that the sagacity and labour 
of the father has built. It must not trust the 
fate of the people to the slight motives which 
often render the son of a king unable or unwilling 
to provide for the good of his subjects. 90 The early 
death of the wisest and most virtuous monarch 
might leave a minor in the hands of such women, 
or such courtiers, as would turn the delicate plant, 
not yet bent to any virtue, in the direction of 
vice. The unworthy should not be at liberty, 
nor should it be easy for him to become the flagel- 
lant of God, he who should be His state holder. 
I have known a people, generous, and trained to 
all that is noble, fall gradually and by impercep- 
tible steps into the situation of an irregular aris- 
tocracy, which was at the same time the realm of 
confusion. 91 It had taken to itself the power of de- 
ciding the general welfare of all ; an obstinate pur- 
chased mercenary could stop the wheel of govern- 
ment in its course, at which one hundred thou- 
sand nobles were uselessly working. At length 
the laws were worse than vices, and rebellion was 
the consequence of the laws. All the virtue of 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 99 

the king and the nobility were lost to the people, 
because disorder was legal, and order a sufficient 
pretext for rebellion. 

"The neighbouring princes perceived the in- 
corrigible weakness of that realm, and divided it 
quietly among themselves, as brothers part the 
field of their father; and the ungrateful nobles, to 
whom the bridle of the law had been insupport- 
able, fell under the yoke of unlimited power. 
Neither the spoilation of morals nor bad princes 
was the cause of the misfortunes of that mighty 
nation : it lay only in the nonsensical constitution 
of their state. 

" It is naturally a worthy task of the wise legis- 
lators to weigh all parts of the state so justly 
against each other, as to make them all balance ; 
that the power of one part should not have the 
preponderance, but the general welfare unite all 
powers in one common direction. Such a consti- 
tution would protect the nation against the most 
powerful revolution, which often brings other 
states to ruin. It would free the honour and 
property of each citizen from the danger of being 
seized upon by a more powerful nation, or by the 
prejudices of a misled multitude. It would aug- 
ment the power of the state, by preventing some 
F 2 



100 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

members of it from working in an opposite direc- 
tion, and draw them together to a central point, 
which would be the united will of all parties." 92 

" Araund," said Alfred, " seems to me to speak 
like a physician, who demonstrates how desirable 
it would be to obtain a medicine which would cool 
the over-heated, and heat that which has grown 
cold; which would strengthen the relaxed, and 
mollify the hardened parts ; and which could cure 
all opposite evils. He might easily convince me 
that such a remedy would be the most valuable 
gift of heaven, but it will be very difficult to 
discover this medicament." 

" Nature, " said Amund, smiling, " has made 
the remedy for our maladies to grow in their 
neighbourhood, and it is the duty of man to find 
them out and apply them. The constitution which 
avoids the most general evils originates from the 
German and northern people. It may be traced 
to obscure antiquity ; the Cheruskierns, who were 
anterior to the Romans, were acquainted with it, 
and it is still preserved in Scandinavia; but the 
Saxons have departed from that constitution which 
were a work worthy of an Alfred to re-establish, 
for under it the ancestors of the Saxons were free, 
warlike, and too powerful for all their enemies. 93 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 101 

"There are three parts of which a people, a 
great people, must essentially be formed. In a 
little state, a monarch is less required, and it may 
be easily governed in a democratic form; 94 but a 
large realm has too many occupations to be ma- 
naged by many governors, or be discussed by many 
persons, without a prejudicial prolongation of time. 
A great realm must also bestow too many great 
offices, and give too much power to a citizen, for 
the laws to serve as a sufficient bridle. It must 
keep armies, and these also would soon make the 
general preponderate over the citizen. Rome lost 
her equilibrium when she possessed too extended a 
country, arid too numerous legions. Sylla, Pompey, 
and CcBsar, were too mighty for the increasing import- 
ance of the law. 95 

"A great nation should, therefore, be commanded 
by a king ; the administration of power, the direc- 
tion of armies, the transactions with other nations, 
and all that requires prompt resolution, even the 
choice of war or peace, must be left to his deci- 
sion. The law reigns under his name; he 
appoints the judges, he is the source of nobility 
and honour, he elects members to the offices; 
and his sanction is required to all alterations 
of the laws, and all great decisions of the 
nation. The people must supply him with suffi- 
cient wealth to maintain the lustre of a court, 



102 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

and the dignity of the realm towards his subjects ; 
and to reward useful arts and suffering merit. 96 
He must be able to leave the realm in quietness 
to his heir; in an elective empire every election 
weakens the reins of the prince, until there remains 
nothing more than the external splendour of the 
throned 

"The person of the king must be sacred, 
secured against all molestation, and protected by 
the laws against all violence, as on his preser- 
vation rests the tranquillity of the state; the 
the agressor of his king offends the majesty of the 
whole people, as he represents the dignity of the 
whole society. 98 

"But the laws alone must protect the king. 
He cannot administer justice for himself; his 
power would be too far superior to that of every 
citizen ; he would soon be a despot and a tyrant, 
if he could punish, if he could seize the goods or 
the person of him by whom he believes himself 
offended." He should he, of course, protected by the 
laws against the attacks of the slanderous, who shake 
deeper than is believed the pillars of the government, 
by withdrawing the confidence of the people from him 
icho is charged with the general welfare. Slowly the 
calumniators stir the fire, which at last becomes 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 103 

general, and, when the minds of the greater part of 
the nation are prejudiced, breaks out into an all-con- 
suming flame; and never is a prince overthrown with- 
out the state being weakened, and many thousands 
becoming miserable.™ 

"It is an afflicting acknowledgment, but the 
history of the world sufficiently proves it, that 
a bad prince has greater power, and is more pro- 
tected, than a good one. The virtuous prince is 
blackened without danger, and rendered suspicious 
to his people; he suffers what can possibly be 
suffered, but when he can no longer prolong his 
patience, he calls, but too late, on the slow assist- 
ance of the law, from which he receives no relief; 
when once a great number of citizens are preju- 
diced, they wish a diminution of his power. A 
bad prince finds in all constitutions sufficient 
means to win the laws through the judges ; 101 to 
purchase the fearful by the example of his revenge ; 
the greedy, by the dissipation of treasures ; and 
the ambitious,by raising him in honour. 102 He uses 
means which the virtuous disdain, but which 
effect the corruption of men with infallible power. 
It is therefore necessary that the laws protect the 
good king, and maintain him in veneration in the 
eyes of the nation, and suppress, by punishment, 
the voice of unbridled calumny. The more free the 



104 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

people the greater necessity for this protection, icith- 
Qitt which, it is impossible for the king to preserve 
the power which is necessary to hold the reins of 
government" 

Alfred smiled. " Amund seems to provide for 
my fame after death ; but will he then silence the 
punishing voice of truth, that voice which raises 
itself against bad princes, and warns the citizen 
to oppose attacks against the general security and 
the increase of a dangerous power?" 103 

" The actions of a bad prince," said Amund, 
" would speak louder against him than the tongue 
of hatred. If the principles are unshakably based, 
if the conditions by which the king is bound are 
well secured, if the potency of the other powers 
of the realm are exactly defined, no prince will be 
able to increase his authority, or raise himself 
above the laws without offending the other powers 
of the state, nor violate the boundaries of law 
without its being seen, even by the lowest citizen. 
The worst princes are the least calumniated, in- 
evitable vengeance suppresses the complaints, even 
of the oppressed. 

" But the more silent a people remains, the more it 
feels; and there is a limit which the prince cannot 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 105 

transgress without arming against himself every other 
power of the realm, and without being unavoidably 
hurled from the throne. 10 * It were not difficult for 
me to name more than one prince who punished 
an accidental word with a fine of two thousand 
pounds of gold, 105 and open complaints even with 
mutilation ; and in whose realm no other voice was 
heard than that of flattery. But when he attacked 
the fundamental laws of the country, the tyrant 
suddenly fell, by the combined forces of all those 
parties who had previously pursued each other, but 
who soon united against the general oppressor." 

" Amund," said the wise Alfred, " here starts a 
difficult question. When does the king begin to 
forfeit his right to the throne ? where is the boun- 
dary he must transgress, that his people should 
attain the right of hurling him from the throne ? 
Amund forgets that the faults of a prince differ 
extremely in magnitude, and that even the people is 
not an enlightened judge, who can justly weigh these 
faults. If the people will resent the slightest fault 
of the prince, no government will be firm, for 
every prince commits faults; and prejudice or 
interest may point out to the people faults in the 
prince, which in reality are virtues. If we admit 
a convention between the prince and the people, giving 
the former the right to govern so long as lie fulfils the 
F3 



106 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

conditions; and the people the right to withdraw 
their obedience, so soon as these are not exactly com- 
plied with by the ruler ; and if that convention be 
the fundamental law of all governments, I pity the 
prince who ascends such a tottering throne. I pity 
the people, who is continually forced to purchase, by 
violence and bloodshed, the downfal of one prince 
and the election of another, of whom sufficient reasons 
toould soon be found to overthrow him, like the former 
one. 

" If, on the contrary, the prince can oppress his 
people with impunity ; if, under the pretence of a 
general peace, nobody can oppose his acts of 
violence; if he tears to himself, by dreadful taxes, 
the most necessary subsistence of the poor, and lets 
his citizens starve — all for the purpose 01 satis- 
fying his desires; if he seizes, arbitrarily, the lives 
of his subjects, incarcerates them without a trial, 
and executes, through bribed judges, unconvicted ; 
if he attacks the honour and dignity of the best 
citizens, voluntarily destroys the ancestorial courts 
of justice ; if he reluctantly admits, and punishes 
by branding the representations of working truth, 
shall then millions be miserable because one mortal is 
unjust? Has the Supreme Governor created those 
millions for one man only? Shall the happiness of so 
many thousands be counterbalanced by the foolish will 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 107 

of a single individual? Shall free citizens allow them- 
selves to be killed like sheep, and yet kiss the hand of 
their murderer? A medium must therefore be 
found by which resistance becomes legal, and 
by which the prince loses the right to enjoy 
his privileges; but does Amund know of such a 
medium?" 106 

"It is difficult, wise Alfred," said the worthy 
Amund, " it is very difficult exactly to point out 
this limit, which, however, must be done. Even 
among the mildest people, even among the cowardly 
Serens, there is such a limit. Tscheu transgressed 
it, and was hurled down by the virtuous Wuwang. 
Wuwang appealed to the voice of heaven : 6 He,' 
said he, f He, the Tien, commands me to protect 
the earth against the violence of the tyrant.' The 
only means of finding out this limit is the exact 
definition of the fundamental laws, and the boun- 
daries of the royal power. If the king cannot 
levy taxes, and nevertheless imposes them ; if he 
likewise cannot himself acquire the right, and 
nevertheless arbitrarily imprisons and executes 
men ; if he gives laws which cannot be sanctioned 
by the nobility, or the representatives of the 
people; if he weakens the laws, which have ob- 
tained their power from the legislative bodies by 
arbitrary remission of punishments; if he prevents 



108 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the liberty of opinion, and the resolutions of the 
other bodies of the kingdom ; if he, in fine, re- 
verses the fundamental laws of the realm, he 
certainly forfeits his claim to general obedience, 
and has become the enemy of his people, who can 
themselves reiterate his enmity, and their repre- 
sentatives are entitled to place him again within 
the boundaries of the law. 

" So long as he is only faulty without attacking 
the fundamental laws — so long as he only does 
injury by badly selected councils — so long as he 
only misapprehends the wisest expedients in the 
business of the state — and so long as he is only 
weak but not tyrannical — so long he deserves the 
remonstrances of his nobles and the people. He 
certainly trifles away the general esteem, and can 
be punished through his officers, and hindered 
in the execution of his imprudent decisions by the 
other powers of the kingdom. But to dethrone a 
prince is so very great an evil, that the bitter remedy 
should not be tried until there remains no other for the 
salvation of the country. 

"It is very fortunate for the human race that it 
does not reach at once the extreme of malignity; 
that the power of morals, and the fear of the 
results, prevent a sudden fall from virtue to the 



ALFEED AND HIS COUNSELLOE. 109 

abyss of vice; and that great offences are at- 
tempted only by degrees. A prince can, there- 
fore, in a moderate constitution, often be stopped 
in the unfortunate course of his degeneration, 
mostly by expostulations, by the legal resistance of 
the powers joined to him, by the tokens of general 
aversion, or by the resentment shown to his bad 
officers. 107 Seldom will the sad necessity arise, in a 
ivell-balanced constitution, of the people being obliged 
to arm against the individual for whom they would, 
at other times, think it their duty to lay down their 
lives. Only in such states where, without fundamen- 
tal laws, no equilibrium existed, and the whole nation 
was tottering, have there been such tyrants, in whose 
blood the people ivere forced to look for their 
security"™ 

" Thus the Roman dominion was an incubation 
of warlike power, and hypocritical and political 
wisdom, in which the exterior of a republic was 
preserved, and nevertheless all the power was 
dependent on the swords of the pretorians and the 
legions. Thus it was at Byzantium, where no 
limit encircled the power of the prince, whose will 
was executed without the assistance of the law, 
where nothing prevented him from risking all, but 
where, likewise, nothing protected him from the 
despair of the oppressed. The courtier threatened 



110 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

with disgrace, or the general deprived of his dig- 
nity, knows that he runs no greater risk by rebel- 
lion than by obedience, that he need not fear either 
the laws or the people, but solely the prince, who is 
his enemy ; and if he has but the slightest hope of 
plunging his dagger into the heart of the prince, 
before the axe reaches his own head, he will rather 
risk the almost hopeless enterprise. And the 
prince often succumbs for the very reason, that 
he had power over all, because no watchful law 
limited him, or prevented him from falling in the 
abyss ; because the laws afforded him no greater 
protection than they did to his subjects. 109 

" Seldom, and but at distant intervals, does 
history relate of an absolute monarch having been 
his own enemy to such a degree as to surmount 
all obstacles, to break through all laws, and commit 
such acts of violence as to bring his subjects to 
despair, without which they would never under- 
take a dangerous revolution against a legitimate 
prince occupying his throne. 

" In despotic states, however, such revolutions 
occur, on the contrary, very often, arising from 
the most insignificant circumstances. Even in 
civilized Byzantium, where Christianity teaches 
patience and obedience, where powerful priests 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. Ill 

are mostly attached to the sovereign, and keep 
back the agitation of the people, even there sitteth 
perhaps now the fiftieth dynasty since the first 
Caesar suppressed liberty; for in the regions of 
the wild Orientals, one tyrant supplants another, 
as clouds driven by a storm expel each other in 
the wide regions of the air. 

" The second power in a moderate constitution is 
the nobility, Alfred perhaps suspects Amund of 
not being favourable to them, but Amund were 
then against himself, for he must thank his birth 
for the privileges and dignities which the common- 
ers willingly yield to the nobleman. Nobility is no 
invention of the Greeks, nor of the civilized 
Egyptians, nor of the intelligent Serens ; it was 
attached, even at Home, to only half the descend- 
ants of the ancient heroes. The privileges of the 
nobility may be sought in the north. The first 
nobleman was a valiant warrior; his sons fol- 
lowed his track, and the only occupation of many 
succeeding generations was war. By the con- 
tinued importance which was given to the war- 
like courage, and the rearing in arms to the de- 
scendants of the first heroes, the people were 
accustomed to distinguish the defenders of the 
nation from the lower class of people who looked 
after cattle, who cultivated the ground, and were 



112 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

less practised in the use of weapons of war, and 
consequently less dreaded ; which tribes lived in 
constant strife, and were less fit to protect the 
nation. 

" The privileges of the nobility became more 
constant and limited, when, for the first time, the 
later emperors of the Romans and Byzantians gave 
pieces of ground to their warriors, who colonized 
on the boundaries of the wild people, on condition 
of continuing in the practice of their weapons, 
and to defend those limits of the realm ; it thereby 
became the duty of entire generations constantly 
to practice the art of war ; and an irrecoverable 
property was given them as a privilege over the 
other citizens, whose sons very often lost the 
estates acquired by the toils of their fathers. 

"Greater became the difference between the 
noble and the plebian, as warlike people subdued 
others less acquainted with war, whilst frequently 
whole victorious armies shared amongst them- 
selves the conquered lands, and only granted life 
to the vanquished on the hard condition of culti- 
vating the ground, that the warriors might live 
without trouble in the diverting exercises of 
hunting and warfare. Thus the Sarmatians were 
created nobles, and their knaves are the old and 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 113 

weak inhabitants of the great countries through 
which I wandered, and which are situated on the 
northern limits of Europe and Asia. 

" The nobility are certainly useful in a state, 
as the exemption from all low occupations, the 
delicate sense of honour, the encouragement 
which arises from the hope of dignity, even the 
in-born pride based on the merits of their fore- 
fathers, raises the spirit of the nobles, and their 
wealth gives them an independence and impor- 
tance which an artisan or tradesman can scarcely 
attain. These privileges must be applied, by a 
wise legislator, so that the nobility may, in general, 
defend the state, assist the king, and avert from 
the commoners all kinds of oppression. 110 

" Alfred will allow his servant liberty to speak 
the truth. Amongst his Anglo-Saxons the nobility 
have too many privileges ; they become dangerous 
to the state ; the commoners, properly speaking, form 
the people, and if every citizen has the right to claim 
of the constitution as much happiness as possible, the 
common Saxon does not enjoy that right He cannot 
obtain the high places of honour, he cannot even 
willingly sacrifice his property to the wants of the 
state, as the king prescribes the taxes to the 
noble, who keeps it off of himself by imposing 



114 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

that burden in proportion to his will on the com- 
moner. The land is the property of the nobility, the 
countryman is merely his farmer, 111 The existence 
of the labourer, the lives of his children, and even 
their marriages depend on the caprice of the 
noble. 

"The nobility are equally dangerous to the 
king. All the weapons are in their hands alone, 
every earl being the general of his subordinates. 
The command depends, in the first instance, on 
the noble, and only through him on the king. 
The unwillingness of the nobles impedes the 
mass of the soldiers, paralyzes their services, and 
deprives the king of the means of subsistence for 
his armies. One more step, or one more equi- 
vocal enterprise of the king, by which the nobility 
think themselves offended, and the earls will 
turn their arms upon the king himself; and the 
commoners, who are under the power of the 
nobility, having obtained from them their fields, 
expect from them their bread, and will certainly 
serve the noble against the king, of whom they 
know nothing, except through the commands of 
the nobility. 112 

" The nobility have likewise the administration 
of justice; they, who have not the least connexion 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 115 

with any business, but bunting and war, and who 
consider their own will as a law, instead of the law 
governing their will. This prerogative makes the 
commoner even more subject to the noble. The 
displeasure of the earl is a condemning verdict for 
his adherents. His favour alone lays the proper 
value upon the action of him who has acquired it. 
Another disadvantage is, that the estates are too 
immensely great, and give the nobility a too great 
and not sufficiently divided power. 113 

u They must certainly be placed by a wise legis- 
lator in a situation wherein they can be useful to 
the state, to the king, and to the people; and 
wherein they prove no incumbrance to any mem- 
ber of the state. The jurisdiction cannot be en- 
trusted to them ; they have too many matters to 
settle with their bondsmen, their farmers, and the 
king, which would greatly influence their deci- 
sions ; and the Anglo-Saxon nobility have, besides, 
not been zealous enough in enlightening their 
minds, as that we may entrust them with the very 
difficult task of drawing justice from the darkness 
in which it is oftentimes concealed. For judges, 
men must be selected who are brought up to read, in 
the knowledge of the laws, and in the research of 
principles for every case. The judge must not be 
settled in the county, wherein he must likewise not 



116 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

possess any property, nor any interest ivherefore to 
turn the scales of justice on any one' party. 114 

" Much less should the power of arms and the 
command in war be allotted to the earl. The 
warriors belong to the country and to its father — 
the king, and are not the property of an earl nor 
of the county. The noble might certainly be 
very advantageously employed in commanding 
hundreds and thousands of soldiers. His experi- 
ence in arms, his ambition, and even the respect 
with which the commoners are inspired, fits him 
for the command. But the general, the colonel, 
and the captain, must be selected by the king, 
and no right to dignities in war should be inhe- 
rited. The king selects the most able and zealous 
citizens of the state. Some are, from birth, timid or 
weak; and others, from capriciousness, unjust or 
evil-minded. 115 

" The common soldier, the captain, and the 
colonel, must be subject only to the king, and to 
none else. As England is now administered, 
every county is the seat of a petty king, who has 
his own sorrows and his own advantages, and who 
only studies the general welfare if it be in accord- 
ance with his own. The king must likewise direct 
the exercises of war ; he must give orders as to 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOE. 117 

where every legion shall be marched to, and to 
what purpose they shall serve; he must nourish 
and arm them ; an unanimous spirit must revive 
the whole forces of the country, and unite them 
all to one purpose." 

Alfred listened attentively. He felt the truth 
of the observations which Amund addressed to 
him ; but the wise king observed, at the same time, 
that such a great alteration in the powers of the 
nobles would produce a general revolt, which 
could not be easily quelled. He vowed to dimi- 
nish their too extensive privileges, but acknow- 
ledged that the execution of this decision would 
require much time, and should only take place 
gradually. He withdrew, in fact, the jurisdiction 
from the nobility, but his early death prevented 
him from diminishing the power which they had 
in military matters. 

The king, nevertheless, made an objection to 
his friend. " Amund withdraws from the nobility 
the command in warfare, and the seat in the court 
of justice; but what kind of justice does he reserve 
for these nobles, that they may be useful to their 
country." 

" Alfred," said Amund, " assembles yearly the 



118 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

nobles of the realm, and considers with them the 
welfare of the country ; this assembly he only calls 
at will, but it should be permanent, and moreover 
founded on the constitution of the state. The 
three powers of the realm — the king, the nobles, 
and the delegates of the people, should assemble 
every year. The day of the opening of this great 
convention is fixed by the king, and he alone can 
dissolve it. 116 

" The head of each noble lineage possesses a 
hereditary and essential voice in the meeting of 
the states of the empire, and nobility is created by 
the king, and inherited by all future male genera- 
tions. This hereditary right, allotted to the noble 
and independent, would be lost if the granted 
privilege died with the ennobled and meritorious 



" On the meeting of the diet all great business of 
the empire, the taxes, and laws, are propounded in 
the hall where the knights meet, and no decision 
becomes legally valid unless sanctioned by the 
nobility. To this assembly the bishops are joined, 
as they alone possess some of the sciences; 118 the 
consideration of the business would be an emula- 
tion for the nobles, which would elevate their 
minds, by exciting them to use all their power to 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 119 

speak before their co-governors on all questions, 
with profundity and impression. This is the only 
method of withdrawing the nobles from the occu- 
pation of hunting and arms, and to invite them 
to adorn their minds with a knowledge of the 
laws and the history of their country. 119 The 
presence of learned and experienced bishops will 
increase their ardour, and they will be ashamed to 
allow themselves to be guided by those who are 
born far beneath them, and are only approximate 
to them by the force of their mental faculties. 
In assemblies in which men can only make 
impressions by conviction, the preference of birth 
cannot be allowed a preponderance over equal 
nobleness of mind; and he who will not submit 
himself to others' opinions, must learn to support 
his own by a superior knowledge of the case, and 
powerful eloquence. This kind of emulation 
awoke orators and statesmen in warlike Rome; 
it formed the precise justness of a Csesar, the 
flowing eloquence of a Tullius, and the manful 
seriousness of a Cato. 120 

" I would go farther," continued Amund, " I 
would leave neither to the bishops nor the judges 
the last decision of justice. I would convert the 
meeting-hall of the knights into a supreme court 
of justice, in which disputes should be finally 



120 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

decided. The learned men would merely assist in 
this court, but the nobles judge. I hope, like- 
wise, that such a right would, from their thirsting 
ambition for honour and their innate privilege, 
induce the nobles to strive after that function, and 
endeavour to merit it by their knowledge of the 
law, their natural moderation, and the impression 
and character of their elocution. I have no doubt 
that the ignorant knights, who commonly attest 
their credentials with engraved stones, would, after 
a few years, be able to administer the great busi- 
ness of the kingdom. 

" Then the king could select from amongst 
them the chancellors, the ambassadors, the council, 
and the higher functionaries of the state, who are 
now selected from the priests and monks. The 
nobles, who now live as retired princes in their 
castles, would be drawn to the court, would be 
more connected with the king, and more united 
to him by their dignity. The people would per- 
ceive with pleasure that the king divided his 
power with such men, beneath whose rank they 
&re born themselves, and would envy them less 
than plebians risen from amongst them to these 
high offices. 

Such a change in the state can be easily effected. 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 121 

It leaves the high functions of the burghers undis- 
turbed ; but what I now have to demonstrate the 
king will find more strange ; nevertheless the con- 
stitution of the state which I will trace is nothing 
more than the extremely old constitution of all the 
northern people, the Germanians, the Scandina- 
vians, the powerful Franks, and even that of the 
Saxons, although the preponderance of the nobi- 
lity has successively oppressed the people, and 
abased it nearly to servitude. 121 

" Our ancestors were all alike ; he who carried 
weapons, possessed an equal share in the govern- 
ment of the people, a security he was prepared to 
purchase with his blood. When great decisions 
were to be taken, war declared, or peace con- 
cluded, the whole nation was assembled, the army 
of free Celts, its shouts, the sound of clashing 
shields, announced the will of the people, which 
became a law. They selected their commanders, 
and even their kin^s. The kino: was a warrior, 
who acquired the confidence of the people by 
his bravery. He was a general, but not master of 
his co-citizen ; even from the fruit of his victories 
there was no pretence that he could claim for 
booty in preference to a common citizen. 122 

"All men have the same right to happiness; 
G 



122 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

and a state must be formed to make as many of 
its inhabitants as possible happy, and that in the 
highest degree which it is possible to obtain; it 
is there that a despotic government is faulty. 123 
It only provides for the power and happiness of 
the regent, and to that sacrifices the comfort of 
the subject, who is considered as a mere tool by 
which the monarch executes his purposes. But 
wise legislators do not require among many milli- 
ons that only one should enjoy perfect happiness. 124 
Nor should the power at any time be separated 
from the capability of exercising it. To an enlight- 
ened mind, it seems contradictory to see a knight 
in a cradle, as his delicate hands may, perhaps, 
never be strong enough to handle a sword. It 
seems perfectly ridiculous not to find in the evi- 
dent advantages of a rational mind, nor in those 
of manly courage, but only in the privilege of 
ancestors, sufficient grounds for one to command 
those, without whose counsels he cannot even 
lead himself." l24a 

Alfred replied: — "My ancestors acted wisely 
in changing that portion of the constitution. Men 
are not all alike : such an equality is a fiction of 
proud sophists. 125 Yalour raises one citizen above 
another to a deserved height, but wisdom can raise 
him above all* He who is able to give counsels, 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 123 

that will lead a whole nation to prosperity, is of 
greater utility to the people than one of the thou- 
sands who follow him through the path which he 
points out, and which they would themselves never 
have discovered. The value of every citizen con- 
sists in the portion he contributes towards the 
general welfare. 

" If men are not all alike, their voices cannot 
be worthy of a like esteem. The initiated opinions 
of a thousand ignorant men are not worth more 
than the wisdom of the one, whom they all follow. 
The multitude are often misled by yielding to the 
fiery words of ambition, construed to the taste 
and prejudice of the people, and ornamented with 
flattering eloquence. I have studied the cruel 
effects of the speeches of a discontented tribune, 
of an ambitious Cleon, and of a seducing Demos- 
thenes, which neither the serious profundity of 
Phocion, nor the undisguised virtue of the younger 
Cato, could resist. 126 

" Like the waves of the seas raised by a heavy 
gale, the minds of the thoughtless people are 
agitated by the directions they receive from an 
agreeable orator. Of all forms of government, I 
would least approve of that in which the superior 
power is in the hands of the people. They are 
G 2 



124 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

neither prepared by education for politics, nor 
have they acquired experience from practice ; how 
can they, who were raised from common occu- 
pations, with uncultivated minds, decide on the 
highest matters of the realm? Neither wisdom nor 
my friend would wish to do this, he, who has seen 
so many nations, and who has learned from history 
how to give advice for the present times." 127 

" I am far/' said Amund, " from drawing the 
people to the deliberation, and to trust them with 
the supreme power:— too well do I know how a 
multitude judges. I have been deputed as ambas- 
sador from the Byzantian court to the Pazinakes, 
who live on the banks of the cataracts of Borys- 
thenes, of which the capital is Setscha. All 
the warriors of the nation live there without 
admitting any women ; and from that island they 
make destructive sallies into the neighbouring 
Sarmatia, into fruitful Datia, and into wealthy 
Bulgaria. 127a These warriors assemble every year, 
and select their leaders and their judges. Every 
citizen is equal to the other, and the voice of an 
inexperienced lad is equally valued with that of 
an old man who had carried on the wars of his 
people for fifty years, and, as commander, had led 
them to victories. At the same time an inquiry 
into the conduct of the leader of the past year is 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 125 

held, and a verdict given. I have witnessed that a 
general, unheard and unconvicted, was ill-treated, 
deprived of all his estates, and expelled the rights 
of the country, merely on a suspicion that he was 
inclined towards Byzantium. Neither the honour, 
nor the property, nor the life of a citizen, enjoy 
the lowest security in a constitution, where the 
will of the mass is considered the only existing 
law. 128 After some years other orators arose, and 
the sage, who, as a traitor to the people, had 
suffered the severest punishment, was replaced in 
his seat of honour. The Pazinakes are Scythes, 
and unlearned ; but did the people of Rome show 
more justice to the victorious Coriolanus, to his 
preserver, Camillus, or to Tullius Cicero? Has 
Athens not banished Aristides, executed Phocion, 
and sentenced a cup of poison to Socrates, the 
first man who applied philosophy to promote virtue. 
If power remains in the hands of the ignorant, if the 
constitution of the state cannot oppose a dam to the 
torrent of prejudices, the mass of the people become 
themselves the tyrants ; for those are the real tyrants 
who consider their will the only existing laiv. 129 

" But it is easy to give to the people an essen- 
tial share in government, without slackening the 
rein to unjust actions. They — the people — have, 
however, a certain claim to a share in govern- 



126 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

ment: they form the chief part of the nation. 
Their industry nourishes the king and the noble, and 
their blood purchases security and peace to the mother 
country.™ Their happiness, indeed, forms the 
most essential part of the prosperity of the whole 
state; and to acquire that none can strive with 
more ardour or more faith than the people them- 
selves, who long for that happiness. The nobles 
accustom themselves too easily to look with con- 
tempt upon the people; they are too much dis- 
posed to lay the burden of the state upon them, 
and to free themselves from it. 131 Often, but too 
often, has a prince thought to become more happy 
by increasing his power, and found this increase 
in the abasement of his people, by whose im- 
poverishment alone he could extricate himself 
from the abyss into which his desires to triumph, 
his inclination to lust, and his vanity nourished 
by pomp, had plunged him. 

" But before the people can have a share in the 
government, they must be free. This, as yet, the 
Anglo-Saxons are not. They are farmers of the 
nobles, who can force them at will from their 
lands, and deprive them of the means of subsis- 
tence, of the fruits of the earth, and of their 
labour. The people must have property, and 
must possess the land which they cultivate. So 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 127 

long as they only toil for the profit of the landlord — so 
long as the cultivation of the field only increases the 
grandeur of the earl, without enriching the countryman 
— so long will the peasant be unwilling to cure the 
defects of the earth, or to try to increase its fruitful- 
ness by his labour. He will not drain the ditches to 
lead away the polluting water ; he will not put ferti- 
lizing earth on fields which are not his own ; he will 
return with avarice and economy to the earth that 
ivhich the earth has yielded him ; he will find it suf- 
ficient to enjoy himself without heeding whether, after 
his lease is expired, the land becomes a desert : a pro- 
prietor provides for the future fertility of the soil; his 
ivish is that it should yield to him in his old age his 
necessary subsistence; that it should nourish his chil- 
dren and grandsons. He works with zeal and pleasure 
upon an improvement which shall better his own situ- 
ation, and risks a present expense and the labour of to- 
day, that after years, after centuries, the field may pro- 
duce more sheaves, and the planted forest yield more 
shade to his descendants. , 132 

" To transfer the possession of lands into the 
hands of the people, the king must grant them 
perpetual leases of his dominions, and abolish 
the law of primogeniture of the nobles. If the noble 
could sell his estate, or distribute it amongst 
his children, the immense lands of the earl would 



128 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

soon be divided, and would arrive through in- 
numerable channels into the hands of the labourers, 
who could then always pay a higher price for land, 
which would only require a smaller expense from 
them, and would produce them a larger income 
than to the noble, who is obliged to divide the 
fruits of the ground with the farmer. 133 

" Neither can a wisely balanced state admit 
that one citizen should seek protection from an- 
other. Only the state itself, its guardian the 
king, and its will the law, should protect the life, 
the property, and the honour of every member of 
the nation. There are amongst the Anglo-Saxons 
many thousands who have sought protection from 
acts of violence by the nobles. This usurpation on 
the rights of the state is inadmissible. The citizen 
will then be no longer attached to his country, 
nor to his king, but only to his protector, and 
expecting from him his preservation, will strive to 
serve him by his obedience, and will rise with him 
to rebellion, not because he is oppressed by the 
king, but merely because he cannot then separate 
himself from the noble, on whose protection he 
rests his security. 

"Neither should justice be administered by the 
noble; nor should he punish crimes ; nor should he 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 129 

shed, in the name of the law, the blood of criminals. 1 ** 
With the sword of justice, the noble likewise 
intimidates the citizen, whose property depends on 
a verdict of the nobles, and his life on their arbi- 
tration. All powers of the empire must be con- 
centrated in the state, and none should be allowed 
to place itself between the state and the people. 
Still less can prudence approve of citizens and 
boroughs forming a league among themselves, and 
the whole union taking upon them to defend each 
other. 135 If an important member of such a con- 
federacy happened to consider himself offended, 
even though it were without cause, and should 
regard the endured grievance as of more conse- 
quence than the quietness of the state, how easy 
were it for the whole league to revolt, unlawfully 
to oppress the defender, and to kindle a civil war? 
One confederation might fall out with the other ; 
whole provinces might sieze their weapons, and on 
Eugland might they wreak their vengeance. All 
wrongs should be resented by the law, and to 
the king alone should be allowed the use of the 
sword." 

Alfred listened attentively. The wise king 

sufficiently felt that the constitution of his realm 

was not justly balanced ; that the nobles had too 

much power, and himself not enough, and that 

G 3 



130 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the people were perfectly impotent. But his 
experience and reflection convinced him that all 
these evils were not to be removed by a strong- 
remedy, and that only a long series of mild 
measures were necessary to improve the state, 
without putting it in inevitable danger. 136 He 
executed what circumstances allowed him, and 
only after many centuries were all the wishes of 
Amund fulfilled. But Alfred effected something. 
He made a law which obliged every master to give 
freedom to such of his vassals as became Chris- 
tians, after the space of a year. 

"The people," continued the combatant, at a 
later period of their intercourse, " are now free, 
and their chains are broken. It is therefore now 
possible to give them that share which nature has 
assigned ; but the unbridled mass must not admi- 
nister that power. The people must select a great 
council from amongst them, which, united with 
the king and the nobles, would represent the 
third power of the realm, and form one of the 
states of the empire, in whose united hands the 
rudder should be placed. The number of these 
representatives must be so great, that not one, powerful 
among the few, shall have too much influence; that a 
bad prince shall not, by presents and lucrative offices, 
seduce to his interest too great a portion of these repre- 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 131 

sentatives, and make the deputies tools of oppression, 
instead of intercessors for the people. 111 

" The men who should be selected to represent 
the people must be men of property, men who 
cannot be so easily corrupted to accept presents, 
whose time, devoted to the service of the country, 
is free from low labour; and icho have received an 
education that renders them capable to deliberate 
with knowledge on the high rights of the people, 
and the welfare of the empire; and to find out the 
means of promoting the general weal, as well as 
to avert menacing evils. This inherited wealth of 
a deputy can be most exactly ascertained by mea- 
suring the ground, and from it the amount which 
a representative of the people should possess. I 
regard the ground as the only positive wealth, and 
the most secure, which connects a man to his 
mother-country. Metals and moveables can be 
bought by a citizen of another country, but his 
property in land he can nowhere possess and enjoy, 
except in England. Let the realm be in pros- 
perity, and his estates will be productive to him. 
Peace, order, justice, and wise institutions, will 
make his acres fruitful, and himself wealthy. In 
time of disturbances, in the decrease of order and 
trade, and in the misfortunes of the realm, his 
fields will be changed into deserts. 138 



132 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

" According to the book in which the wisdom of 
Alfred has registered the number of acres of the 
kingdom, two hundred and forty three thousand 
herds are recorded. Of these, five hundred men 
should be selected for the great council of the 
realm. Those proposed must be in possession of 
five hundred herds, and every elector should be 
owner of at least five. 139 

" As six thousand souls live in the realm, three 
thousand assemble every time to elect the repre- 
sentatives ; but these electors must also have their lands 
within the country ; the possessor of the acres has alone 
a real interest in their welfare. He who possesses 
nothing can lose nothing in disorder and riot, and 
he can easily be bribed at a little price, or by the mere 
satisfying of his sensual desires, to let the country be 
represented by individuals ivho have neither the will 
nor the ability to fulfil the duties of that high office. 
I find that sixteen acres of land qualify the 
countryman to give his vote at elections of 
deputies. 140 

" Every year, after the fruits of the earth are 
housed, the king assembles the nobles and the re- 
presentatives of the commons. 141 To those deputies 
by whom the people are represented, the wants 
of the crown are submitted; for a heavy, long- 



ALFEED AND HIS COUNSELLOE. 133 

protracted war, and maintenance of a navy, cannot 
be supplied by the domains of the king ; and it 
would be injurious to the state if these royal 
possessions were too much enlarged. They pos- 
sess the fault that they are not the property of 
the individuals who cultivate them, and therefore 
never obtain the complete attention that the real 
possessor bestows upon his own estates. To allow 
to the king the right of arbitrarily fixing the 
amount of the taxes, were to sacrifice the property 
of the people to the desires of the prince. To 
await voluntary gifts, were at all times an inde- 
finite and uncertain assistance, which would 
increase the power of the noble, and lessen that 
of the monarch. 142 

" The greatest attention to the exact distri- 
bution of burdens, and useful employment of the 
taxes raised, cannot be expected better than from 
those who have to bear those contributions. The 
representatives of the people should therefore take into 
consideration the requests of the king, and the necessary 
corresponding sums ivhich they should also levy upon all 
proprietors in the kingdom^ so that the measurement 
of tlve fruit-producing territory should form the scale 
of the contributions." 

Amund could not foresee that the wants of the 



134 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

state would be immensely increased ; that future 
generations of wealthy citizens would arise, whose 
treasures would not consist in estates, but in 
vessels, merchandize, wools, stocks of all kinds, 
and in their commerce. To future ages was 
reserved the raising of other contributions, be- 
sides the land tax, on the implements of splendour 
and merchandize ; the charging of the importation 
of merchandize with duties and tolls, and the 
keeping of a special legion of officers for the collection 
of those taxes. 

" The consent of the nobles to these contribu- 
tions," continued Amund, "must certainly be 
obtained, for there are also citizens who are 
proprietors of lands, and they must likewise bear 
the burdens which the wants of the state re- 
quire ; but nothing more than their consent or 
their refusal is needed, and the regulation must 
solely depend on the people, because it not only 
attacks the nobles in their abundance, but the 
commoners in their comfort, and even in their 
necessities. 144 The noble would but too soon conceive 
the idea of shaking the burden off his shoulders on to 
those of the commoners, if he preserved some power in 
the distribution of the taxes. ub 

"No estate can be exempted from those general 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 135 

and constant contributions. The lands of the 
church must, indeed, assist to bear the burden 
which serves to the maintenance of the state, for 
their preservation depends also on its welfare. 
If the estates of the priests were excepted, the 
remainder of the citizens would succumb under 
the weight, for the church is a whirlpool, which 
constantly swallows up, but returns nothing. U( > Alfred, 
who loves religion, and, for her sake, the church, 
will gracefully excuse the rough sincerity of a 
Northman, for even his own estates, those of the 
crown, must contribute their share of the taxes, for 
the king also obtains from the taxes the means of satis- 
fying his wants ." 147 

Alfred was indeed devoted to the church ; he 
had adopted at Rome a hierarchy, which he at- 
tributed to the virtues of Leo. His love for arts 
induced him to bestow his friendship on the 
priests and monks, who at that time only pre- 
served some remnants of ancient learning. Nations 
were not then taught by abuses the dangers which 
their liberty incurred by submitting to the church; 
it was willingly: and the well-disposed believed 
that they worshipped God in worshipping his 
servants. Amund's words surprised the pious 
Alfred, but made no impression upon him. He 
ascribed these too free thoughts to the opinions 



136 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

of the many unbelievers among whom Amund 
had sojourned. 

Amund continued: — " The amount of the con- 
tributions must be fixed by the wants of the state. 
In time of peace I would fix it at the tenth part 
of the annual revenues, and in time of war at the 
fifth. The statistical description of the country, 
which Alfred's wisdom has provided, extensively 
facilitates the calculation and levying of these 
taxes. 148 

"Another task of the representatives of the 
people is the legislation ; the laws are always 
chains, which fetter natural liberty; the citizen 
bears them willingly, because they also protect 
him, because he sacrifices with pleasure a portion 
of his freedom to society, which shelters him 
from the attacks of other evil-minded citizens; 
because all laws harmonize in one purpose, which 
is to increase and secure the happiness of every 
citizen. But by others than these the free Ger- 
man will not be bound. In himself alone he 
trusts not to part with more of his liberty than 
imperiously required for the general welfare. 149 
The nobles may 'project the laws, and so may the dele- 
gates : but they must in either case be approved of by 
both states of the realm, and sanctioned by the kiny. lb0 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 137 

There is nothing more difficult than to make laivs, 

because they must give an equally just direction-line 

for so many widely different cases, but few of which 

men can foresee. Accordingly, the laws must be often 

considered, and not too hastily adopted; they must, at 

least in many instances, only be given for a limited 

period, that their results may be carefully examined. 1 * 1 

Alfred has prescribed wise laws to his Saxons; 

but posterity may bring forth fresh wants, and 

require new reformations. Since laws should be 

gradually established, they must not be hastily 

abolished; and Amund would advise that the laws 

be made by the majority of voices, but not removed by 

less than two-thirds of the suffrages; for by nothing is 

the strength of laws more broken and weakened than 

by repeated alterations. The legislator who abolishes, 

or even reforms a law, discloses its Heedlessness to the 

public; but the suspicions of error fall with a like weight 

upon the new laic. Why should not the man who erred 

yesterday err to day? But punishment does not invest 

the laics with greater power, than the inner conviction that 

they are also salutary to the individual bound by them. 152 

" Xevcrtheless punishment there must be. The 
selfishness of man impels him to satisfy his pas- 
sions, by committing actions against the general 
welfare. Men should, therefore, in their own 
interest arm themselves against such selfishness; 



138 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

and every citizen should be convinced that the 
fulfilment of his desires will but make him un- 
happy. 153 The punishment must be mild but inevit- 
able. The wisdom of the legislator consists therein that 
the culprit cannot escape justice ; and that point once 
attained, double the crime will be prevented, with far 
less sufferings on the part of the culprit™ 

" Before the delegates of the people all conces- 
sions of liberties, privileges, and licenses must be 
brought. The king may too easily be induced, by 
the skilful eloquence of a favourite mediator, to 
give privileges injurious to other citizens. 155 As 
every part of the kingdom has its intercessor at 
the great assembly, it could not easily occur that 
a citizen, a village, or a town were favoured at 
the expense of another. 

" All other business of the realm is likewise 
submitted to the consideration of the commoners. 
The king concludes peace and declares war ; but 
as the latter throws on the shoulders of the people 
an immense burden, and as, on the conclusion of 
peace, the welfare of the realm can with the best 
intentions be overlooked, a wise king will always 
combine to the inspirations of his own prudence the 
results of the considerations of his great council ; but 
if the functionaries of the state neglect so mode- 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 139 

rate a step, the representatives of the people possess 
a natural right, not to prescribe to the king his 
decisions, but to weigh the grounds for it, and to 
represent to the king their doubts, and point out 
to him the probable consequences of the decision 
of the court. 156 

"By this surveyance the people can watch over 
the counsellors of the king, as they will never 
advise evidently unjust actions, nor assist in 
resolutions which would be clearly disastrous to 
the realm. 157 The hatred of the whole nation is 
too strong for even the most powerful minister. 
It is likewise founded on the natural order that 
the people can make representations against all 
injurious measures of the court, and principally 
against unwise and unjust councils, as those from 
which the whole people would have to suffer; and 
how unwise must be the king who will not listen 
to the voice of all his people? 158 

" The general assembly must be able to delibe- 
rate on all subjects, and no power should prevent 
the lowest of the representatives from frankly pro- 
posing what he thinks proper for the general wel- 
fare. The voice of truth should be heard without 
hindrance, and even false conviction of wrong 
conclusions should fearlessly be delivered. For if 



140 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the unsoundness of an opinion present an obstacle 
to its utterance, the powerful will soon be able to 
silence the speech of the weak, by declaring their 
arguments to be unfounded. The ill advice of 
the bold ignoramus will not easily pass through an 
assembly which a powerful people has composed of 
its most distinguished men, and even should the 
unwise counsels obtain the applause of the mul- 
titude, there exists a counter-balance in the 
approval of the nobles, without which no will of 
the commons should be carried into effect ; and in 
case even the nobles followed the commons in 
their evil ways, the king possesses the supreme 
power of rejecting whatever he considers contrary 
to the general welfare." 159 

Alfred had never beheld an assembly of the 
people, and was only connected with that of the 
nobles. He was surprised at the great share in 
the government which his northern friend allowed 
the people, and objected: " Amund's virtues and 
wisdom, and the knowledge of many countries and 
many people, have enlightened him ; an assembly 
composed of such men as my friend, would soon 
raise a people to be the most superior on the globe ; 
but even were such gifts of Providence not so 
scarce, does Amund hope that the ignorant com- 
moners would discover and elect such men ? How 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 141 

often would not an exterior affability, a noble birth, a 
liberal use of great wealth, even isolated great actions, 
-prompted by ambition, entice the people to elect men 
whose exertions strive more after their own aggran- 
dizement than that of their country ? 160 

" Will not even the ambition of these deputies 
tempt them to use the prejudices which are so 
easily spread over the people, as instruments of 
their personal favour ? Will they not adopt the 
will, the inconsiderate will of the communities, as 
a direction to their votes, whereby to obtain the 
favour of their electors? Will not thus arise such 
a superior power of the people as Amund would 
surely disapprove of himself; and, which is the worst 
kind of tyrannies? How has Amund prevented the 
inhabitants of a hundred, those of a community, or 
of a county, from prescribing to the deputy who 
represents them, the decision he is to protect? And 
where will the honest man be found who will oppose 
himself to the imprudent will of a misled people ? 
who will support with patience the loss of their 
esteem and favour against the feelings of having 
preferred to it the general welfare ? 161 

" Will not the inexperienced commoners always 
endeavour to increase their power, without per- 
ceiving that they annihilate the equilibrium of 



142 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the state, when they reduce the share of its admi- 
nistration allotted to the nobles and the king? 162 
Did the Roman people, after once tasting the 
sweetness of freedom, not always thirst for power ? 
Did they ever cease to revolt against the nobility? 
Did it not raise their tribunes above the consuls, 
and even above the dictators? Have those tri- 
bunes not done all for their own grandeur, and for 
the people's power ? Have they not even stopped 
the triumphal car of the victorious when of hated 
lineage ? Has not the eloquence of selfish tri- 
bunes brought the republic to the very brink of 
destruction, from which their filial veneration for 
Corolianus alone saved them? Did not, at that 
time, flatterers of the commoners, possessed of a 
capacity for leading the state, press those from the 
rudder who led them to victory ? Have not the 
people preserved this hatred, contrary to the 
general good, on Scipio, and on Tullus? Have 
not the people been unjust while the consuls 
remained generous ? Have they not adjudged to 
themselves the fertile fields near Ardea, without 
any right, and stained the glory of justice pre- 
served by the nobles?" 163 

" A man" said Amund, " who takes his seat in the 
great council of the nation, is no longer the servant of 
a borough; he is counsellor of the realm; he no longer 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. ] 43 

represents the interest of some houses, but the business 
of a powerful state, and the welfare of the country. 
He has opportunities of viewing the reasons for 
wise resolutions, and he owes obedience to those 
who have convinced him, and not to the cries of 
countrymen who know of business but its super- 
ficiality, and this only from vague rumour. Those 
cannot advise or command who have not weighed 
the grounds, and the counter-grounds, who have 
not compared the promised advantages to the pro- 
bable consequence. Never should the advantages 
of some villages prevent the deputies from pro- 
viding for the best of the realm in general. 16 * 

" There certainly will always be found among a 
free nation some discontented. There will always 
exist some troublesome citizens, who disdain the 
good because it is not the best. 165 A general pre- 
judice can pre-occupy the people ; it can, like a 
contrary wind, carry the ship right against the 
rocks ; and when the whole nation is misled, no 
constitution can resist the hurricane. The most 
terrible despot has, at Rome, in the empire of the 
Saracens, and in that of the peaceful Serens, not 
been able to resist the general discontent; and 
he will be the more exposed to the most cruel 
insurrection, because his unlimited power induces 
him to risk more attacks for the general good, than 



144 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

the prince whose power is limited. The latter 
would be stopped by the laws, by the nobles, and 
by the representatives of the people in the course 
of his hardy enterprise long before he can have 
gone so far as to offend and unite the whole nation 
against him. 

" The interest of a county, the petty advantages 
of a borough, will, by the opposing interests of 
other countries and other towns, be kept in equi- 
librium. If the prince offends not the whole 
nation, he will always find friends among rational 
men, who soon discover what is profitable to the 
whole state ; and were it not better to support 
some less perfected qualities of the prince, than 
venture the dangers which the threatened downfal 
of the sovereign family would produce? The 
nobles would not yield to the people the ruling 
power, before which their privileges would vanish. 
They would oppose to the cries of the populace 
the influence by which they acquire their wealth ; 
their luxuries, and even their prejudices. 

"If violent orators incited the people to take de- 
structive measures, even jealousy would arm other 
members of the great council of the nation with 
such eloquence as would obtain an invincible 
weight from its truth. A whole nation will seldom 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 145 

agree in erroneous notions, as truth alone can pro- 
duce conviction. 

" I found my hopes on this ground : — the pre- 
judice of the multitude would certainly bring 
sorrow upon the king, and often stop the best mea- 
sures, and could moreover remove the first officer 
of the state from the rudder ; but to overthrow the 
throne, the cry of the mass were too impotent, 
if the prince has not forfeited the general favour 
by real and important attacks upon liberty. The 
murmurs of the unreasonably discontented are cer- 
tainly acts of ingratitude against a good king ; but 
it were far more dangerous to attempt stifling 
the voice of the people ; it is the path by which 
truth gains admittance to the throne: it is a 
warning call of Providence, which reminds the 
prince not to pursue the wrong course he has 
entered." 166 

" Amund then believes," replied Alfred, " that, 
according to the old constitution of the Celts, 
the government should be divided between the 
king, the nobles, and the commoners, in a manner 
which possesses, perhaps, not every perfection of 
the unlimited power of a good prince, but which 
would make the cases very scarce in which the 
king ventures to be extremely bad. Such a 
H 



146 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

government in his opinion may possess less 
strength, because the powerful members of the 
state strive, even then, towards different direc- 
tions; but it ensures the liberty of the citizens, 
and the peace of the state. For no other con- 
stitution unites the people so close to the govern- 
ment as that in which the people have, through 
their delegates, a share in the government." 167 

"In the Celtic states," replied the counsellor, 
" every inhabitant who is settled, and is bound 
by his property to the welfare of the nation, 
has a share in the legislature, and nothing is 
done without the consent of those who repre- 
sent him. He has, himself, elected his represen- 
tative, and is consequently elector of the legis- 
lator ; and the whole people have chosen those in 
whom the power is vested. This right of election 
gives every citizen a dignity which even the noble 
must acknowledge ; because the disfavour of the 
multitude might exclude him from the govern- 
ment. 168 Every burgher's house is a castle, watched 
by the laws, in which even the sovereign power cannot 
-penetrate, unless they open its doors. Such a country 
where the property of every citizen is sacred, where 
every burgher elects his legislator, must be beloved by 
every inhabitant, who cannot but acknowledge his pri- 
vileges to be superior to those of the citizens of those 



ALFEED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 147 

states, to whom neither their liberty nor their property 
is guaranteed, and where the government is placed in 
such hands that the people cannot have the slightest 
influence upon it, Exterior enemies would hardly 
find a faction in the former state, and the loud com- 
plaints would soon he changed into a general cry of 
war if another power were to attach the state, whose 
subjection would entail an enormous loss upon every 
citizen" 1 ™ 

Alfred smiled, and responded : — " Amund lias 
distributed the power to the people with such 
liberality that he has left nothing for either the 
nobles or the king. And yet power, which alone 
is the spring wheel of all transactions, cannot be 
removed with speed, importance, and certainty, if 
another power can with one finger check that 
wheel and stop the movement of business. An 
enemy summoned to war offends the honour of the 
crown. He undertakes conquests by which Eng- 
land is placed in danger ; he oppresses my allies ; 
and in such a case there are no means to stop the 
consequent violences and war. But the people who 
have allotted me subsidies for one year can with- 
draw them in the following. If I should displease 
them, would they not either extort the most 
unreasonable demands from me, or the state he 
disarmed and fall a prey to its enemies? I con- 
II 2 



148 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

elude an alliance with the Picts. I promise them 
subsidies against their restless neighbours, and 
they assist me faithfully. An orator begins to 
ridicule the Picts and their assistance ; the people 
refuse to give the subsidies, by which I have hired 
those useful friends to give their blood in order to 
save that of my Saxons. The abandoned allies 
turn enemies, and such mischief can be caused 
by a mere pleasing harangue of a favourite de- 
puty." 

"This objection," replied Amund, "is difficult 
to answer. That which the wise Alfred fears may 
happen — nay, it will happen, because it arises 
from human nature. It was thus the discon- 
tented Romans refused to conquer for the coun- 
cils, and rather let themselves be defeated than 
allow Appius to triumph. Alfred's apprehension 
is one of the consequences of liberty when not 
led by wisdom. 

" One means remains, which is, that the deputies 
be not elected yearly, but represent the people 
for three or for seven years. The electing them 
for only one year seems to me, besides, prejudicial ; 
they will be too dependent on the populace, of 
whom they ought to be perfectly free. Every 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 149 

election is likewise a fermentation, which had better not 
be too often repeated, for the people to remain indus- 
trious, laborious, and orderly. If the power of the 
representatives is secured for several years, the 
unchanged deputies would probably not reduce, 
in case of war, the fruits of the efforts of the first 
year, by refusing their future assistance. They 
would not risk the vengeance of the nation, which, 
as blind as it might be to the merits of its kins;, 
would implacably abhor those by whose obsti- 
nacy the dignity and safety of the state were 
sacrificed. The ally would likewise gain confi- 
dence in England, if the government were fixed 
for several years, for, the more new elections 
take place the more the constitution approaches 
towards government by the people ; but the 
longer the great senate remains unaltered, the 
less influence will the populace preserve. 170 

" This duration of the assembly might, perhaps, 
be used in future centuries as a spring to accele- 
rate or check the rudder of government, in pro- 
portion as it may meet with too much resistance, 
or be pulled along with too great velocity. 

" Human wisdom possesses no remedy to cure all 
evils, to prevent every excrescence of liberty, or 
to give to the prince a power which does not tend 



150 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

to the oppression of the people. I nevertheless, 
believe, that from the danger which the prince 
incurs through the loss of the love of his people, 
he would find himself in the useful necessity of 
preparing to carry his sceptre with prudence — not 
to let it oppress the citizens too much, nor let it 
become too heavy in his hands. The prince will, 
in the first year of his reign, learn to surmount 
the difficulties of a government composed of 
jealous parties, and to proceed in such a manner 
that the wiser and better portion of the people 
may attach themselves to him. He will have 
nothing to fear, if he strives to become an 
Alfred." 

The king reflected — not without sorrow — on 
the proposition which Amund had made. "Not 
yet," said the wise king, " are my people able to 
govern themselves. In future enlightened cen- 
turies they will be more worthy to sit at the rud- 
der of government. 171 It will be my care to point 
out to them the path to those daughters of heaven 
— sciences, wisdom, and truth. While I govern 
with the power which I have inherited of my an- 
cestors, it will be my indefatigable exertion that 
my people shall not repent to see so much power 
in my hands; and to apply that power in all ways 
to their use." 172 



ALFRED AND HIS COUNSELLOR. 151 

[Alfred not only endeavoured to fortify his 
kingdom with laws, embellish the cities and cas- 
tles, and promote arts and sciences, but likewise 
to increase navigation, trade, and commerce, by 
discoveries of foreign countries. He found in 
Qthar the Northman, an experienced navigator, 
who vastly assisted him in attaining that aim. 
A portion of Othar's voyages and discoveries will 
be found in the following book.] 



152 



THE SIXTH BOOK. 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 



At the extremity of Heligoland (now a well 
known island in the North Sea) there lived a 
wealthy nobleman whose name was Othar. 173 He 
possessed six hundred rein-deers ; and, in a coun- 
try where every other kind of cattle was scarce, 
he ploughed with his own horses and oxen. Othar 
had read much; his mind was enlightened by 
narratives of travellers, who cultivated their intel- 
ligence by comparing the manners and customs of 
the foreigners with their own, whereby they dis- 
covered the means of improving the latter; and 
were able to procure their countrymen comforts 
hitherto unknown, better implements, and better 
food. Norway was then governed by Harold 
with the fine hair, a ruler who subdued the 
petty princes of his realm, and extended the 



ALFKED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 153 

rights of the throne. Othar had increased his 
inclinations for the enjoyment of the general 
advantages of human nature, by the knowledge 
of the old Scalds, who sang to a valiant nation the 
advantages of liberty. 

Othar, feeling an irresistable wish to travel 
and discover distant lands, embarked, and arrived 
at Alfred's court as the latter was occupied in 
raising a naval power. The king received with 
pleasure a man whom necessity forced to instruct 
himself in the art of navigation. 

Northmanland had not (besides its rein-deers and 
game) been gifted by nature with any other means 
of nourishing its inhabitants than the sea. Between 
the cliffs of a shore, broken down in fearful preci- 
pices, between the rocky isles lying before the land, 
the sea is filled with an inexhaustible multitude of 
animals, which the courageous inhabitants pursue 
through all the dangers of winds and ice, and 
which supply their wants. Food, wherewith in 
milder climates grateful earth rewards the labour 
of the ploughman, must be fetched by the hard- 
ened Northmen from foreign lands, and brought 
to their huts by long sea voyages; but every 
Northman is a fisherman and a navigator. Hence 
the reason that the inhabitants of the Scandina- 
h3 



154 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

vian shores could easily molest with numerous 
fleets those of the more fertile countries. 

Othar was presented to the king : — " Alfred," 
said the Northman, "deserves, from his virtues, 
that the globe should offer him new countries 
which no other mortal ever has navigated. I hope 
to discover countries which will increase England's 
wealth, where a great number of navigators will 
find rich cargoes for their vessels, and by which 
the Saxons will learn to maintain the dominion of 
the seas. I live in regions over which in summer 
the sun never sets, rising after a short circulation 
in the boundaries of the horizon; the seas nourish, 
in those heights, monstrous fishes, compared to 
which the elephant is but a small animal. Never- 
theless, they serve as booty to man ; and one of 
those fishes is of the value of one hundred pounds 
of silver. My Northmen know how to conquer 
these monsters ; to them it is mere play to pursue 
these giants on the seas with their javelins. On 
the cliffs of these seas are to be found the sea- 
horse, whose teeth are more esteemed than ivory; 
and in the high seas the inestimable unicorn, which 
produces an antidote confidentially given by phy- 
sicians against every kind of poison. 

"But Othar has greater designs; he has be- 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 155 

longed to men, whom the desire for booty, or the 
tempestuous winds, drove into new seas. North- 
land does not reach the extreme angle of the 
world; it is bounded by the ocean, and in the 
East flows an immeasurable sea, of which no 
mortal knows the limits, which reaches fertile 
Nippon and industrious Cathay. Immense would 
the fortunes of the Saxons be, and immeasu- 
rable Alfred's glory, could I succeed in dis- 
covering in these rich countries the road through 
which to bring those treasures into the British 
islands, which enrich so many nations before they 
find their way into Europe. The silk garments of 
queens, the finest steel, the noblest copper, the 
costliest metals, are found in those distant realms; 
and that people will occupy the highest rank 
among all nations, who has first discovered the 
roads of the sea, and who will appropriate to them- 
selves by navigation the riches of that unknown 
world. 

" Othar requests two ships, which he will man 
with experienced sailors, and provisions for twelve 
months. He will die or discover new realms for 
the king." 1 ? 4 

Alfred gladly accepted the proposition. Two 
ships manned with Northern sailors left for 



156 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

Heligoland's shores ; and Othar steered his vessels 
directly towards the angle of the earth. He pei> 
ceived the extreme end of the then known world. 
The sea opened in an immense distance towards 
the east, and the land retired before him towards 
the south. Othar advanced farther to the north 
than any mortal had done before him. The sea 
was open, and the dangers he had to surmount 
were only trifles to his courage. He captured 
unicorns, and brought with him a whole cargo 
of that inestimable antidote ; but as he had just 
rounded the point of the globe, beyond which it 
again sinks to the south, he was overtaken by a 
heavy gale from the east. Yainly would the bold 
Othar resist. He was driven on a shore where 
he found a secure harbour, warm sources, and 
green meadows. 

The inhabitants of those shores were not unlike 
the Finlanders, among whom Othar had formerly 
lived. Little and uncouthly shaped, but prepared 
to bear all the burthens of life, indefatigable in the 
most difficult tasks ; they attacked with bad wea- 
pons, and without the assistance of iron, the fearful 
whale, which served them for food, and whose 
bones formed the skeleton of their huts. They 
sought beneath the ice the coy seal, and slew him 
with javelins, mounted with bones. Fish was 



ALFKED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 157 

their corn, their whole nutriment; for the earth 
produced nothing that man could subsist upon. 
The country was covered with rocks, and filled 
in the interior with lofty snow-capped mountains. 
Never did a tree shoot forth, nor did the rocky 
soil produce a single fruit. 

« 
Othar's ships had sustained great injury in the 

storm; their repair required several weeks. He 
acquired a knowledge of the people who inha- 
bited the newly discovered shore. He assisted the 
savages in their fishery, presented them with iron 
weapons, and instructed them in fastening har- 
poons to long ropes, which they flung in the 
whale. By this rope the whale draws his pur- 
surers along with a speed no storm can imitate, 
until he becomes weakened by loss of blood. 

Othar taught them the value of the sea-horse 
teeth, and the means of subduing it. He let 
them taste of bread, and promised them to return 
in the following year with the production of the 
arts of civilized nations, and to barter with them 
for the booty of the whale and seal. 

In spite of Othar's love for liberty, he had 
never before seen a country without a ruler. 
The whole north was governed by petty princes, 



158 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

who themselves venerate the kings of Upsal, 
Lethra, and Northmanland. The inhabitants of 
the northern coasts obeyed magistrates and laws ; 
all paid taxes to the state, and sacrificed to it a 
portion of their liberty. 

Here, in the western north, Othar found no 
trace of subjection ; no man raised above another, 
no law, no punishment, and no reward. Every 
father is master of his children; but the partner of 
his hut, who lives near him under one roof, re- 
quires no obedience from him, and shows him, 
in return, no subjection, but lives with him, like 
brothers in equality, around the common lamp. 
Twenty huts are dug in the earth, close to each 
other, near a plentiful bay; fifty individuals live 
in these huts, and not a single one gives or accepts 
the slightest order ; not one living near the fishful 
bay acquires more superiority among his co- 
citizens than that which inevitably follows good 
advice. The savages assemble themselves in 
common huts, in small villages ; and, in company, 
man large boats, in which they journey from one 
bay to another more plentiful. They Combine all 
their strength to build such a boat ; they conclude 
a bond against the whale, wage against him a 
common war, and share the booty ; but with all 
these alliances, not one of the inhabitants owes 
the least subjection to the other. 175 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOK. 159 

Othar was desirous of learning what the effects 
of this lawlessness could be, if the men were less 
amiable, or their situation the worse for it. He 
found but little difference between the freest of 
men, the inhabitants of the north western coast, 
and the most civilized Europeans. Like in the 
European, good was here mixed with evil. The 
savages lived as peaceably as those watched by 
the wrath of an avenging law. 

But seldom would one of the savages injure, 
or beat another, like himself. Many lived in- 
differently, but amicably, together in one hut. At 
the division of the common spoils there seldom 
arises a dispute; even sensual love, which awakens 
in animals the most bloody conflicts, disturbed not 
the phlegm of these solitary Northmen. 176 

They are, indeed, extremely cold towards each 
other in the duties of humanity. A child, whose 
mother died, must inevitably perish, as no other 
woman will take care of the miserable being. 177 
They do not, in case of illness, enjoy those services 
of their fellow-creatures which civilized nations 
render each other. As the repeated changes of 
their habitations makes a burden of the sick to 
the healthy ;^-as no avenger of the violated laws 
threatens the criminal, a dispute often leads to 



160 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

murder. The furious savage, who meets his enemy 
alone on the solitary sea, has at times overturned 
his boat, or secretly hurled him from the cliffs 
into the deep abyss. But such crimes are not 
frequent, and not more so than with those nations 
who live under the strongest discipline of religion, 
and the punishment of society. 

Marriages are just as constant and harmoniz- 
ing as with other nations. 178 Unfertility is alone 
despised, because the children, and principally the 
sons, are the sole assistance which the parents can 
hope for in old age, in countries where men are 
not sufficiently united to assist one another in 
case of need. 

The sense of honour is as powerful as with the 
civilized northern nations. It extends even On 
the glory acquired by wit, after which these 
savages, likewise, strive in their needy life. But 
still more powerful is covetousness. Superfluity 
forms here the only difference which raises one man 
above another. 179 But these savages are rather 
more to be excused than civilized nations. Their 
subsistence is dependant on thousands of dangers 
and accidents, and even their superfluity exist 
only in victuals, which may suddenly become a 
necessity. The want of living socially may be 



ALFKED AND HIS NAVIGATOK. 161 

the reason which prevented these savages from 
taming animals. Nature gave them reindeers, but 
no one knew how to train them to obedience, and 
to live in friendship with man: these men thus 
lost a surer subsistence than that which depends 
on the waves and winds. 

Othar at length convinced himself, that in a 
perfectly desert country, where there is super- 
fluous room for the small population, where the 
sea is open to all, and furnishes subsistence for all, 
where there are neither acres nor meadows, no 
property but that under the immediate survey- 
ance of its possessor ; that, in fine, in a cold coun- 
try, where all desires, even the most powerful, 
(that of love,) are moderate, men can live without 
authority; that also the common wants and advan- 
tages can lead such uniform men to a social living, 
and that the vices will not break out with them 
in greater crimes, than with those who are under 
princes and laws, because the desires are, with the 
former, less powerful, making limited punish- 
ment less necessary. 

Othar's ships were again prepared and equipped 
ready to support the dangers of the sea. A 
favourable north-east breeze guided the hardy 
mariner round the southern point of the frozen 



162 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

coast. The earth now inclined towards the south; 
a large bay lay before them; a mighty river 
flowed through different mouths into the sea, and 
served for a secure harbour. The northmen found 
those shores, although farther north than those of 
the savages, inhabited with civilized men. The 
Biarmians had a king and holy rites ; they lived 
in warm and comfortable houses, and found in 
fishery, hunting their numerous herds, and in the 
fruits of the earth, sufficient nourishment. The 
people were not unlike the Finlanders of Othar, 
who acknowledged the use of social living. The 
northern cold, the long winters, the destructive 
winds ruled here like by the north-western 
savages ; but the united forces of man had here 
alleviated the severity of the climate. Under their 
hands the earth had become fertile; they were 
acquainted with the use of implements, and 
assisted one another in preparing and building 
their houses. Want did not compel them to wander 
through the deserted country ; they had gardens 
and fields; and exchanged their superfluities 
against the more useful merchandizes of southern 
nations. They were not exposed to famine, which 
often swept away herds of savages, from unfavour- 
able weather. What had been impossible for one 
man was achieved by the united force of the 
mass, The sciences of civilized nations cast a few 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 163 

of their rays into these distant regions, where a 
Supreme Being was acknowledged and venerated. 

Othar found that religion enforces the bonds of 
humanity, and binds us to duties towards our 
brethren, which the savage knows nothing of; 
that we feel more tender compassion, alleviate 
with greater zeal the wants and sufferings of 
others; and finally, that unsociable men do not 
advance in arts or sciences, that they neither 
improve nor perfect anything; but that, on the 
contrary, civilized people daily invent more means 
to alleviate the burden of life, and increase the 
agreeable impressions; that these people grow and 
augment, while the savages remain in eternal 
childhood. 

Othar again unfurled his sails, and a favourable 
breeze from the south-west guided him to the 
northern angle of the earth. He passed by an 
island far beyond the countries inhabited by men, 
eastward of a great isle perpetually covered 
with ice, where the little that nature produces 
only nourished animals. The small island was 
traversed by deep fords, and around it the sea 
swarmed with whales. Othar promised himself 
inexhaustible treasures in those ncver-before navi- 
gated regions, (Spitzbergen,) and to recompense 
the liberality of the Saxons with them. 



164 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

His resolution to fulfil Alfred's wishes was 
unshakable, namely, to discover the route to 
Cathay and Nippon, realms of whose extent and 
wealth the fame had already reached Europe. He 
passed, on a clear day, by a small island, from 
which he perceived some smoke arising. " Even 
here, then," said Othar, " so near the summit of 
the world, inhabit men ! " and soon saw some 
strangers, clothed in furs, walking on the shore, 
and requesting assistance by signs and praying 
gestures. 

The generous Othar could not see men suffering 
without taking part in their misfortunes. He 
embarked in a skiff, and extended his hand, in 
token of friendship, to the head man of these for- 
saken beings. They were Biarmians, and their 
language was not quite unknown to Othar: they 
solicited, in the name of the general right of 
humanity, to be delivered from their loneliness. 
Othar was at once willing to save them ; but they 
requested first to enter a hut, in which they had 
lived for six long years. 

The hut was sunk in a cavity, and erected of 
timber washed away by the waves from distant 
forests, and which kind nature had directed to 
those inhospitable shores. The apertures were 



ALFKED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 165 

stopped with moss. A fire burned on the solitary 
hearth, which was never extinguished. The wealth 
of these unhappy men was preserved in the huts. 
Hides of bears, valuable foxes, and reindeers, grease 
of all these animals, thread, ropes, and tissue of the 
sinews of bears, and some earthern pots were their 
treasures. The Biarmians treated their host with 
meat, and the Northmen once more tasted the 
long-forgotten juice of the barley. 

After dinner, the few men brought their trea- 
sures and weapons on board the vessels, and a 
western breeze favoured their voyage to the ex- 
tremity of the east. To cheer the solitude of the 
sea, Othar begged of the strangers to narrate to 
him their history. 

" We are fishermen," said the eldest of the Biar- 
mians, "and sailed in search of whales; and near 
this isle were enclosed by the ice. We stepped 
on shore, and sought some cavern wherein to 
secure ourselves against the killing cold; in this 
fearful solitude we saw nothing but cliffs, split 
by the frost, and the broken pieces fell with 
fearful crashes into the sea; deserted fields, with- 
out trees or plants ; hills covered with snow, and 
a desert, abandoned by all beings, was our realm. 
We had brought a little iron and some weapons 



166 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

with us from the ships, and without difficulty 
killed a reindeer, for the inhabitants of that shore 
had never before beheld men, and had not learned 
to fly from his ambushes. Night came on, and 
was short, for during whole months the sun never 
forsook us; but a strong hurricane raged during 
the night on the sea, and on the morning the ice 
was dispersed ; but our ships, our only means of 
safety, had been cast away, and were irrecover- 
ably lost. 

" We saw ourselves enclosed in a prison, sur- 
rounded by immense seas. We were far from all 
assistance, and almost devoid of means of averting 
the cravings of hunger, the frost, and the fury of 
the winds ; still our very wants gave us courage. 
The reindeer which we had killed nourished us for 
some days ; we drank the melted snow, and found 
a stock of stranded wood washed on shore by the 
sea, which was sometimes increased by the wrecks 
of ships. A single axe and a knife were all our 
tools. We worked indefatigably in constructing a 
hut, before the inexorable winter should surprise 
us. By rapidly turning a piece of wood, we kin- 
dled a fire, which we never allowed to go out. Of 
a few nails which we found in the wrecks of the 
ships, we forged, on hard stones, a hammer and 
two irons, with which we armed two spears. Of 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 167 

a root likewise presented us by the sea, we made 
a bow, and of the nails, iron points for the arrows. 

A white bear, the tyrant of this island, who fed 
upon what he plundered from the reindeers, at- 
tacked us ; but we were prepared for war, and 
killed the cruel animal with our spears. Of his 
veins we spun threads, and they furnished us with 
strings for our bows, ropes for different uses, and 
thread, wherewith we prepared our clothes from 
the furs of the slayed animals. 

" The bow which slayed in the distance gave 
us power over the animals, which had before been 
the sole inhabitants of the island. We killed the 
bears, shot a great number of foxes, and as many 
reindeer as we needed for our nurture. With 
angles, to which we fastened small morsels of 
meat, we easily deceived the fish, and increased 
our provisions. We found clay, whereof we 
manufactured some earthern vessels, wherein we 
could cook, and formed a lamp, which we nourished 
with bears' grease, and by which we enlightened 
the darkness of the perpetual nights during the 
very long winters. The wicks were made of some 
ends of rope, which we found, from time to time, 
on wrecks. A single low-growing herb, uniting 
good taste to wholesomeness, served as a change 
for our meals. 



168 THE STXTH BOOK. 

" Six times we lived to see the perpetual day 
of the summer; six times, likewise, we endured 
the terrible nights, which for many months cover 
these sad fields. The snow which buried our 
hut, the insupportable cold of the latter winter 
months, were alleviated by the hut and the fire, 
which we preserved. The long hours were short- 
ened by toilsome labours, in which we advanced 
so far as to make needles out of nails. 

" These occupations raised our spirits in the 
dull hours, which we could not avoid. Alas! 
thought I, we must die, and happy will those 
be who die first, who will hear the consoling voice 
of his friends, and who can hope, in his last mo- 
ments, for their assistance, and have his eyes 
closed by friendly hands. But what will be the 
fate of the survivor! who will remain without a 
friend, without assistance; who cannot acquire 
or enjoy meals, and cannot quench the greatest 
want of man — thirst ; who will faint alone, and 
putrify alive. 

"We were threatened to lose our most neces- 
sary tools. The axe, on which depended our pro- 
visions of wood, whereby we protected ourselves 
from the cold, was used to the hilt; of an only 
knife, nothing remained, and these losses were 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 169 

irreparable. But He who created man can also 
save him," said the moral Biarmian, "and his 
kindness has led others, in whom he has en- 
trusted our safety, from the extreme west to our 



Othar testified his joy at being found worthy of 
terminating such undeserved misfortunes. "What," 
said he, musingly, " would man be without art ; 
for social life were then impossible ? A little iron, 
produced by the combined labour of a miner, a 
collier, a potter, a mason, a carpenter, and innu- 
merable other artisans, has saved the life of those 
Biarmians. In social life, they learned how to 
form the iron into tools, the clay into vessels, the 
thread into ropes, and the hides into clothes. 

"Unhappy were man, indeed, without sociality. 
The human race would be extinguished in a few 
years; for children, longer than any animal, remain 
powerless, and unable to procure themselves the 
necessaries of life, were it not for the insurmount- 
able inclination to society which unites the father 
and mother to nurse tenderly the new being, who, 
in return, causes them only pain and sorrow, and 
prompts them to sacrifice to their children their 
ambition, their quietness, their desires, their lei- 
sure, and even their aversion for pain." 181 
I 



170 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

Othar sailed, for a while, towards the east with a 
favourable breeze ; but as the sun entered the sign 
of the Virgin, the long days declined, and the 
winds became stronger. A heavy mist covered the 
sea, and vast floating islands of ice surrounded 
the ship. The robust Northmen feared not death, 
if it encountered them in the shape of a sword or 
a spear ; but they knew that on the frozen north- 
ern coast every harbour would be a grave; that 
no land, for an immense distance, produced the 
necessaries of life ; that their vessel could not resist 
the shocks of these floating masses of ice — that it 
was very uncertain whether any part of the 
deserted regions were at all inhabited — that a 
miserable death, hunger, and frost, awaited them — 
and that no courage could resist such evils. 

Our hero surrendered unwillingly ; but the 
navigation was no longer safe, from the dense 
atmosphere ; and they risked at every moment to 
be shattered to pieces against some imperceptible 
cliff, or some unavoidable island. Their provisions 
likewise grew slack, and the hope of a future sub- 
sistence could only be realized in distant southern 
regions. Othar was obliged to yield to the hard 
necessity, and to shift his rudder. He brought 
the grateful Biarmians back to their native shores, 
loaded his vessel with the scarce furs and with 



ALFKED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 171 

the booty of the northern sea animals, and arrived 
in the beginning of the winter, after having sur- 
mounted the greatest dangers, at Heligoland. He 
wintered with his nation, who heard with surprise 
the narrative of the companions of the hero, who 
had travelled over so many never-before navigated 
seas, who had seen men of other shapes and 
foreign manners, and who had, in fine, ventured 
to approach nearer to the angular star than any 
mortal could ever have hoped. 

In the following spring Othar returned to Eng- 
land, and brought to the king the presents of the 
north, the teeth of the sea-horse, the costly furs 
given to them by the Biarmians and Obdorians, 
the weapons of the highly estimated unicorn, and 
the bones of the whales they had killed. 

Alfred listened with pleasure to the adventures 
of his navigator, and the narrative of the men 
abandoned to nature alone. He was too kind to 
expose his courageous seamen to the certain dan- 
gers of destruction, by farther voyages to the 
extreme north, and therefore gave to the intrepid 
Othar another commission, but one much easier 
to execute. 



The Northman was this time to navigate the 
12 



172 THE SIXTH BOOK, 

eastern seas, which stretch from the great ocean, 
between Scandinavia and Germany, far to the 
east. He sailed with a well equipped vessel 
through the sound which separates the Danish isles 
from the kingdom of the Goths, and navigated a 
river which takes its source from the old mother 
country of the Saxons. The whole nation had 
embarked for the milder shores of Britain, and the 
deserted country was now inhabited by the Danes. 
Othar advanced to the mouth of the Vistula, and 
to the country whence the amber (washed by the 
sea on its shores) is exported to the other parts of 
the world. He took in his ship a quantity of this 
fragrant rosin, which served as ornaments for 
women. He visited Ehstland, a country of nobles 
and slaves ; great forests covered the whole coun- 
try, only a few isolated parts being cleared; every 
Sarmatian nobleman held there his court, around 
which lived his slaves, in miserable huts, who cul- 
vated his lands, and expected their daily subsis- 
tence from him on whom depended their lives, 
and even the honour of their wives. 

The knight knew no other happiness than war, 
or its imitation — hunting. He searched in the 
thickest of the woods the wild bull, and aroused 
the bear in his winter cavern. Neither arts, 
sciences, nor commerce, had yet penetrated into 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOR. 173 

this seat of wild nature. That his master might 
live in idleness, the miserable peasant was daily 
forced to toil, by hard-hearted stewards, at labour 
of which he could hope nothing for himself, and 
which only the whip of the inexorable driver could 
enforce. 

The constant oppression under which these 
miserable beings succumbed, the bad recompense 
for their labour, the contempt which rather in- 
creased than lightened good services, made these 
servants angry, and enemies of their master. 
They became idle, because they worked not for 
themselves; malicious, because they were forced 
to conceal their ill-will; thievish, because they 
lacked the most common necessaries of life ; and 
unchaste, because no virgin remained unstained, 
and dared not resist the insolent requests of the de- 
bauched nobles. It was a visible effect of the ser- 
vility of the oppressed, that they no longer prac- 
tised any virtues, and that their souls were abased 
to a level with those of the brutes. The greatest 
part of the country was a desert, and even the fields 
of the Sarmatian nobles received no care of the 
unwilling ploughman to fertilize them. A part 
of the needless forests were yearly burned down, 
and some seeds sown in the warmed earth, the 
growth of which was favoured by the ash; and a 



174 THE SIXTH BOOK. 

few harvests were followed by perpetual unfer- 
tility. Like the beasts which man nourishes for 
his comfort, the peasant received a common bread 
and a disgusting beverage, which necessity alone 
could make endurable. Life was a burden, and 
death he looked upon as a salvation. Whole and 
immense realms were placed under the iron rule 
of a few nobles. 

None of these vast countries possessed any power 
of their own; but became the booty of every 
prince, obeyed by his subjects. No bond united 
the powerful nobles to general purposes. None 
of them would be commanded by another. None 
would sacrifice the smallest part of his fortune or 
liberty to the general welfare. Single, they were 
subdued without difficulty; their servile subjects 
having nothing to hope of their hard masters, and 
nothing to lose by their destruction. 182 

Othar advanced to the end of the eastern seas, 
and to the mouth of a river, on which stood iso- 
lated islands, covered with shrubs and game ; a 
place designed in the book of fate for a town, 
which should rise after many years to such gran- 
deur, that hundreds of nations should obey its 
sway; and whose governors should erect an 
immense realm, extending from the land of the 



ALFRED AND HIS NAVIGATOE. 175 

Serens to the limits of Ehstland. Othar returned, 
and brought with him the treasures of these dis- 
tant countries: hides of the innumerable game, 
the collected amber, and the honey of the wild 
bees, which in vain often give to man the model 
of a happy industry. 

Alfred marked with interest the situation of 
the realm over which Wodan, his ancestor, had 
governed, and where he had stepped from the 
throne to the altar; he listened attentively to 
the description of the evil use which man makes 
of the gifts of nature, when no wise laws unite 
their force towards a social direction. He resolved 
to use his influence to break their chains, which 
abased even their souls, and by which they lost 
the great advantages which should make them like 
unto God. He recompensed Othar royally, and 
gave him the command of ten ships of war, al- 
ready equipped. 

[We perceive that the purpose of Othar's 
voyages, commanded by Alfred, was not merely 
to discover foreign lands to augment England's 
wealth by importation of goods, but also to study 
the manners, customs, and legislation of other 
nations; and to compare them with each other, 
and with those then existing in England. The 



176 THE FIFTH BOOK. 

result of which, like that of his conference with 
Amund, was that Alfred's government was the 
most enlightened of his time, and contained the 
future British legislation and constitution. The 
contents of the fifth and sixth book will already 
have prepared the reader for the following conclu- 
sion — describing briefly the general principles of 
all political constitutions.] 



177 



CONCLUSION 



All parts of the universe hold a mutual relation 
to each other ; and in the whole empire of finite 
nature nothing exists for itself alone. The 
universe stands in such a relation to its first cause, 
that it could not subsist a moment by itself. It 
belongs to us to study the mutual relation of 
beings, which are not our work, but the produc- 
tions of Nature; and the result of this study 
constitutes our law. The knowledge of this 
informs us how we may be able to turn every- 
thing which exists to our advantage. In nothing, 
indeed, is man more distinguished from the brutes 
than in the faculty of acquiring this knowledge ; 
he possesses no other claim to the dominion of the 
world, but by his superior intellect alone he holds 
it in subjection. Moreover, as man alone is 
endowed with the power of elevating himself in 
communion with the Author of all things, he 
stands, with respect to all subordinate beings, in 
I 3 



178 CONCLUSION. 

the situation of those (if we may venture to use 
the expression) who in monarchical governments 
have the exclusive privilege of entering into the 
presence of the sovereign. 

The law of nature is the result of our relations 
to the visible world, and especially to all beings 
endowed with feeling. The generality of men 
have comprehended indeed, under this term, (fan- 
cying that they are under no obligations of duty, 
except towards their equals,) only that which, 
after abstracting all personal and local connec- 
tions, every man owes to his fellow-creatures; 
but this part of the natural law does not embrace 
its whole extent, although it is obviously the most 
interesting to us. 183 

Since all men do not possess the faculties and 
industry needful for sifting to the bottom these 
first principles, and since it cannot be expected, 
from the violence of human passions, that among 
the various points of view in which each affair 
may be contemplated, men will always adopt the 
most generally beneficial result, as the rule of 
their conduct ; positive regulations were required, 
in order to support the natural law with a suffi- 
cient power, and from time to time with effective 
measures, against the encroachment of ignorance 



CONCLUSION. 179 

and self-interest. An endless variety of circum- 
stances soon diversified these regulations, and 
greatly multiplied them, by giving rise to an 
infinite diversity of relations. Moreover, violent 
changes took place, which quickly gave to human 
society a new form, different from its primitive 
and simple state, and from the spirit and design 
of its first institutions : this was a source of more 
complex relations, which required new precepts. 

The increasing number of these obtained, 
according to the objects with which they were 
conversant, the designation of civil, political, 
public, and ecclesiastical law. The minutest affairs 
were regulated by positive laws, since human 
passions extends to all, and requires, in every con- 
juncture, a prescribed and distinct limitation. Yet 
the innumerable multitude of ordinances are 
capable of being reduced to a few general prin- 
ciples; it is only necessary to point out the par- 
ticular applications, in order to confute the sophis- 
try of those who will not embrace the universal 
scheme. 

In some instances the laws have either been 
proposed, or at least ratified, in popular assem- 
blies; in others, the nation has submitted silently 
to the commands which one or more individuals 



180 CONCLUSION. 

(who by virtue or power have raised themselves to 
be rulers or lords) have issued, under the character 
of representatives, or protectors of the people. 
One man, or a body of men, have also adminis- 
tered the executive power. The variations thus 
produced constitute great diversities in the forms 
of government. Monarchy is that government in 
which a single person rules, but is subject to limi- 
tation by the laws, over which a middle power 
presides, and watches for their conservation. The 
authority of the latter may flow from the splen- 
dour of a long succession of dignified ancestors, 
or from their destination to the defence of their 
country, or from their qualifications as possessors 
of land ; they are termed, accordingly the noble, 
the patrician order, or the parliament. In other 
instances, superior knowledge in divine and human 
affairs imparts the privilege, as among the ancient 
Gauls to the Druids, and for a long period to 
the tribe of Levi among the Hebrews. Despotism, 
which knows no law, but the arbitrary will of 
one man, is a corruption or disorganization of 
monarchy. 

Aristocracy is the government of ancient fami- 
lies, and of those who are chosen by them into 
the senate. This assembly either consists, as was 
at Venice, of the whole body to whom their birth- 



CONCLUSION. 181 

right gives a share in the government, or it is a 
select number chosen out of them, as in several 
Swiss cantons. One branch of this form of admi- 
nistration is Timocracy, or that constitution, in 
which the laws define a certain property, the 
possessors of which, alone, are capable of holding 
offices. This system, and aristocracy in general, 
degenerate into Oligarchy, that is, into a form of 
government in which the chief power, by the 
laws, or by descent, or accident, is confined to a 
very small number of men. 

Democracy denotes, according to the old signi- 
fication of the word, that system of government 
in which all the citizens assembled partake in the 
supreme power. When all the landholders, though 
not citizens, join with the latter in the exercise of 
their high privileges, Ochlocracy prevails. This 
name is also given to that condition of the demo- 
cratic form, in which, in consequence of bad laws 
or the violent commotions, the power, which pro- 
perly belonged to the people, has been trans- 
ferred to the populace. 

The best form of government is that which, 
avoiding the above-mentioned excesses, combines 
the decisive vigour of monarchy with the mature 
wisdom of a senate, and with the animating im- 



182 CONCLUSION. 

pression of democracy. But it is rarely that 
circumstances allow that the sagacity of a law- 
giver has conferred on his nation that good for- 
tune; and when it has happened to be obtained, 
violence and intrigue have seldom conceded to 
it a long duration in a state of purity. Sparta, 
Rome, and some later republics, but particularly 
England, have sought more or less to attain this 
ideal standard of perfection ; but governments 
of the simple form have always been more nume- 
rous and more permanent. 

At the same time it very seldom happens that 
we find a form of government wholly unmixed. 
Religion and prevailing opinions impose salutary 
restraints upon despotism ; in monarchies it is not 
easy for the ruler, without one of these resources, 
to govern the nobles according to his wishes. An 
aristocracy is generally indulgent to the people ; 
it sometimes allows them a participation in the 
most important conclusions; or in the election to 
certain high offices of state. In like manner demo- 
cratic governments are, for the most part, held in 
check by the influence of a perpetual council, 
which prepares affairs for the deliberation of the 
popular assembly. By far the most common form 
of government is the oligarchical. How can the 
sovereign exercise his power, let him be as 



CONCLUSION. 183 

anxious as he may to govern for himself without 
confiding on many occasions in the information 
and proposals of his ministers? A few party 
leaders govern the senate and the popular assem- 
bly. The ablest, the most eloquent, or the richest, 
will everywhere take the lead. The essential 
difference between the forms of government con- 
sists in the various pursuits to which a man must 
direct his endeavours, in order to become powerful 
in each. Another important consideration relates 
to the greater or more limited sphere, in which 
the ruler can exert his arbitrary will. 

With respect to the former circumstance, there 
are scarcely any governments in which the am- 
bition of men is directed altogether as it ought 
to be ; under a wise prince those obtain power 
who deserved it ; under a sovereign of an oppo- 
site character, those are successful who possess the 
greatest skill in the arts of a court. Family influ- 
ence decides, for the most part, in aristocracies. 

With the multitude, eloquence and corruption 
often obtain the victory over real merit. The 
natural desire of self-preservation does not prevent 
the abuse of power; human passions, full of re- 
sources, provide for all contingencies; kings have 
surrounded themselves with standing armies, 



184 CONCLUSION. 

against whose accurate tactics, when no conjec- 
ture of circumstances rouses whole nations to the 
contest, nothing can prevail. The party leaders 
know how to put their private wishes into the 
mouths of the people, and thus to avoid all re- 
sponsibility ; moreover, the depraved crowd who 
receive bribes, and do anything for the permission 
of licentiousness, would sufficiently protect them. 
An aristocracy is extremely vigilant over the first 
and scarcely discernible movements: it leaves 
everything else to its fate, and is willing to impede 
even the prosperity of a multitude, which is for- 
midable to it. 

With all this, it appears wonderful that the 
forms of human society could be maintained in 
the midst of such various corruptions. But the 
greater number of men are neither firmly bent on 
good nor on evil; there are few who pursue 
only one of the two, and that one with all their 
might ; and these, moreover, must be favoured by 
circumstances, in order to carry their endeavours 
into effect. Certain attempts are only practicable 
in particular times; and this forms the distinguish- 
ing character of ages, the regulation of which de- 
pends on a higher power. 

It is fortunate that even imperfect modes of 



CONCLUSION. 185 

government have always a certain tendency to 
order ; their founders have surrounded them with 
a multitude of forms, which always serve as a 
barrier against great calamities, and which impart 
to the course of affairs a certain regularity, for 
which the multitude acquire a sort of veneration. 
The more forms there are, the fewer commotions 
happen. So great is their authority, that the 
conquerors of Rome and China have been obliged 
to adopt the laws of the conquered countries. 

Herein consist also the advantages of the Orien- 
tal and other ancient lawgivers: they considered 
as much the nature of men as the circumstances 
of their particular subjects ; our laws, for the most 
part, only concern themselves with public affairs. 
That simplicity of manners, temperance, industry, 
constancy, those military virtues, which among us 
each individual must enjoin himself, became 
among the ancients matter of prescriptive obli- 
gation. 

In fact, it is only through the influence of 
manners that society can be maintained ; the laws 
may form them, but men must give assistance to 
the laws by their own endeavours. Everything 
will go well when men shall declaim less on their 
share in the supreme power, and each individual shall 



186 



CONCLUSION. 



seek to acquire so much the more authority over him- 
self. Let every one aim at attaining a correct esti- 
mate of things ; for by this means his desires will be 
very much moderated. Let alterations in the form of 
government be left to the operation of time;, which 
gives to every people the constitution of which it is 
susceptible at each particular period, and a different 
one when it becomes mature for the change. 




APPENDIX, 



XOTES, COMMENTARIES, 



EXTRACTS FROM DOCUMENTS 



BOOK I. 



1. Anglo-Saxons in England. 
The limited space of this little work has not allowed us 
to give more than some short outlines of the history of the 
Anglo-Saxons, from the period of their landing in Eng- 
land till the reign of Ethelred, (who died a.d. 873,) third son 
of Ethelwolf, and grandson of Egbert, from which epoch 
Albert Von Haller begins his narrative of the history of 
Alfred, which we have given nearly without alteration. More 
details concerning the Anglo-Saxons in England will be 
found in well-known works on English history, and prin- 
cipally in Kemble's new work, entitled " The Anglo- 
Saxons in England," in " Six Old English Chronicles," and 
in Dr. Giles' " Alfred the Great." 

2. Genealogy of Alfred. 
Alfred was the fourth son of Ethelwolf, and grandson of 
Egbert, through whom his pedigree ascended to Woden, and 
from thence upwards, through twenty-three generations, to 
Adam. This pedigree, according to Asser, Florence, and 
Simeon, is as follows : Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalecl, 
Enoch, Methusalem, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Bedwig, Huala, 
Hathra, Itermod, Heremod, Sceldwea, Beaw, Caetwa, Geata, 
Fingodwolf, Frithwolf, Frealaf, Frithowalde, Woden, Bel- 
deg, Brond, Gewis, Elesa, Cerdic, Creoda, Cynric, Ceaulin, 
Cuthwine, Cutha, Ceolwalde, Coenred, In^ild, brother of 
Ine, Eoppa, Eafa, Elmund, Egbert, Ethelwolf. The mother 
of Alfred was named Osburga, a religious woman, noble both 
by birth and by nature ; she was daughter of Oslac, the 
famous butler of King Ethelwulf, which Oslac was a Goth 
by nation, descended from the Goths and Jutes, of the seed, 



190 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

namely, of Stuf and Whitgar, two brothers and counts ; who, 
having received possession of the Isle of Wight from their 
uncle, King Cerdic, and his son Cynric, their cousin, slew 
the few British inhabitants whom they could find in that 
island, at a place called Gwihtgaraburgh,* for the other in- 
habitants of the island had either been slain or escaped into 
exile. — But our readers "doiverit etre un peu en garde contre 
les historiens qui remontent a la tour de Babel et au deluge." 

3. Ragnar Lodebroh. 

Our author terms the Scandinavians also Normans, and 
but seldom Danes, perhaps by reason of the more poetical 
sound in the German language of the word Normans. 
Most of the English historians have adopted the name of 
Danes, probably to distinguish them from the Normans, who 
invaded England under William the Conqueror. We have 
no reason for altering the expression used by our German 
author, as it has not yet been proved that the Scandinavian 
invaders were merely composed of Danes. But to avoid 
any confusion in our narrative, between the latter Nor- 
mans and those in Alfred's time, we have adopted the 
name, Northmen, as a general term for the northern in- 
vaders. 

Ragnar, or Regner Lodebrok, one of their heroes (men- 
tioned in p. 4.) was made prisoner by Ella, King of North- 
umberland, and the unhappy captive was placed in a dun- 
geon, where he was slowly stung to death by snakes. When 
the news of Regner' s death reached Denmark, his sons, two 
of whom were Hingua and Ubba, swore to avenge him. 
The bards of Scandinavia tuned their harps to the praises of 
the hero : his actions were chaunted throughout the islands 
of the north, and the death-song of Regner Lodbroc, a 
curious remnant of Scandinavian verse, which has come 
down to our own times, animated his countrymen to battle 
and to vengeance. This and other heroes have been dif- 
ferently named by various authors, we can therefore not 
answer for the accuracy of either name, the more so since 
one name, as Lodbroc, is spelt in several different manners 
in one work. 

4. Death of Edmund, King of the East- Angles. 
"In the year of our Lord's incarnation, 87-0, which was 
the twenty-second of King Alfred's life, the above-named 

* Carisbrooke, as may be conjectured from the name, which is a combina- 
tion of Wight and Caraburgh. 



BOOK I. 191 

army of Pagans passed through Mercla Into East-Anglia, 
and wintered at Thetford. 

" In the same year Edmund, King of the East- Angles, 
fought most fiercely against them ; but, lamentable to say, 
the Pagans triumphed, Edmund was slain in the battle, and 
the enemy reduced all that country to subjection." — Asser. 

5. Battle of Reading. 

This battle is described by Asser as follows : — " In the 
year of our Lord's incarnation, 871, which was the twenty- 
third of King Alfred's life, the Pagan army, of hateful 
memory, left the East-Angles, and entering the kingdom of 
the West- Saxons, came to the royal city, called Reading, 
situated on the south bank of the Thames, in the district 
called Berkshire ; and there, on the third day after their ar- 
rival, their earls, with great part of the army, scoured the 
country for plunder, while the others made a rampart between 
the rivers Thames and Kennet, on the right side of the same 
royal city. They were encountered by Ethelwulf, Earl of 
Berkshire, with his men, at a place called Englefield. ;* both 
sides fought bravely, and made long resistance. At length 
one of the Pagan earls was slain, and the greater part of the 
army destroyed; upon which the rest saved themselves by 
flight, and the Christians gained the victory. 

"Four days afterwards Ethelred,King of the West- Saxons, 
and his brother Alfred, united their forces and marched to 
Reading, where, on their arrival, they cut to pieces the Pa- 
gans whom they found outside the fortification. But the 
Pagans, nevertheless, sallied out from the gates, and a long 
and fierce engagement ensued. At last, grief to say, the 
Christians fled, the Pagans obtained the victory, and the 
aforesaid Earl Ethelwulf was among the slain. 

"Roused by this calamity, the Christians, in shame and 
indignation, within four days assembled all their forces, and 
again encountered the Pagan army at a place called Ash- 
dune,! which means the ' Hill of the Ash.' The Pagans had 
divided themselves into two bodies, and began to prepare 
defences, for they had two kings and many earls, so they 
gave the middle part of the army to the two kings, and the 
other part to all their earls ; which the Christians perceiv- 
ing, divided their army also into two troops, and also began 
to construct defences. But Alfred, as we have been told by 
those who were present, and would not tell an untruth, 

* Englefield Green is about four miles from "Windsor, 
t Aston, in Berkshire. 



192 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

marched up promptly with his men to give them "battle; 
for King Ethelred remained a long time in his tent in prayer, 
hearing the mass, and said that he would not leave it till 
the priest had done, or abandon the divine protection for 
that of men. And he did so too, which afterwards availed 
him much with the Almighty, as we shall declare more fully 
in the sequel. 

" Now the Christians had determined that King Ethelred, 
with his men, should attack the two Pagan kings, but that 
his brother Alfred, with his troops, should take the chance 
of war against the two earls. Things being so arranged, the 
king remained a long time in prayer, and the Pagans came 
up rapidly to fight. Then Alfred, though possessing a sub- 
ordinate authority, could no longer support the troops of 
the enemy, unless he retreated, or charged upon them with- 
out waiting for his brother. At length he bravely led his 
troops against the hostile army, as they had before arranged, 
but without awaiting his brother's arrival ; for he relied in 
the divine counsels, and forming his men into a dense pha- 
lanx, marched on at once to meet the foe. 

"But here I must inform those who are ignorant of the 
fact, that the field of battle was not equally advantageous 
to both parties. The Pagans occupied the higher ground, 
and the Christians came up from below. There was also a 
single thorn-tree, of stunted growth, but we have ourselves 
never seen it. Around this tree the opposing armies came 
together with loud shouts from all sides, the one party to 
pursue their wicked course, the other to fight for their lives, 
their dearest ties, and their country. And when both armies 
had fought long and bravely, at last the Pagans, by the di- 
vine judgment, were no longer able to bear the attacks of 
the Christians, and having lost great part of their army, 
took to a disgraceful flight. One of their two kings and 
five earls were there slain, together with many thousand 
Pagans, who fell on all sides, covering with their bodies the 
whole plain of Ashdune. 

" There fell in that battle King Bagsac, Earl Sidrac the 
elder, and Earl Sidrac the younger, Earl Osbern, Earl Frene, 
and Earl Harold ; and the whole Pagan army pursued its 
flight, not only until night but until the next day, even until 
they reached the stronghold from which they had sallied. 
The Christians followed, slaying all they could reach, until 
it became dark. 

"After fourteen days had elapsed, King Ethelred, with his 
brother Alfred, again joined their forces and marched to 



BOOK I. 193 

Basing to fight 'with the Pagans. The enemy came together 
from -all quarters, and after a long contest gained the victory. 
After this battle, another army came from beyond the sea, 
and joined them." To this we only have to add, that "ilfaut 
se defier de ceux qui particularisent toute Vhistoire, qui vous 
donnerrt audacieusement la relation exacte de toutes les ba- 
tailles dont les generaux eux memes auraient eu peutetre bien 
de la peine a rendre compte a Vepoque on les batailles out eu 
lieu" 

6. Alfred's Brethren. 
Ethelwerd, author of the " Saxon Chronicles, " (a de- 
scendant of King Alfred,) dedicated his work to Matilda, 
daughter of Otho, the great emperor of Germany. The said 
" Chronicles," which we shall have occasion sometimes to 
cite, vary a year or two from other authors. With respect 
to Alfred's brothers, he relates as follows : — " I will now 
leave obscurity, and begin to speak concerning the sons 
of Ethelwulf. They were five in number : the first was 
Ethelstan, who also shared the kingdom with his father ; the 
second was Ethelbald, who also was king of the Western 
English ; the third was Ethelbert, King of Kent ; the fourth 
was Ethelred, who after the death of Ethelbert, succeeded 
to the kingdom, and was also my grandfather's grandfather : 
the fifth was Alfred, who succeeded after all the others to 
the whole sovereignty, and was your (Matilda's) grand- 
father's grandfather." 

7. Vide Note 5. 

8. Battle of Wilton. 
The following is the description given by Asser, of that 
memorable battle : — "In the same year, (871,) when he had 
reigned one month, almost against his will, for he did not 
think he could alone sustain the multitude and ferocity of 
the Pagans, though even during his brothers' lives he had 
borne the woes of many, — he fought a battle with a few 
men, and on very unequal terms, against all the army of the 
Pagans, at a hill called Wilton, on the south bank of the 
river Wily, from which river the whole of that district is 
named, and after a long and fierce engagement the Pagans, 
seeing the danger they were in, and no longer able to bear 
the attack of their enemies, turned their backs and fled. 
But, oh! shame to say, they deceived their too audacious 
pursuers, and again rallying, gained the victory. Let no 
one be surprised that the Christians had but a small number 

K 



194 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

of men, for the Saxons had been worn out by eight battles 
in one year against the Pagans, of whom they had slain one 
king, nine dukes, and innumerable troops of soldiers, besides 
endless skirmishes, both by night and by day, in which the 
oft-named Alfred, and all his chieftains, with their men, 
and several of his ministers, were engaged without rest or 
cessation against the Pagans. How many thousand Pagans 
fell in these numberless skirmishes God alone knows, over 
and above those who were slain in the eight battles above- 
mentioned. In the same year the Saxons made peace with 
the Pagans, on condition that they should take their depar- 
ture, and they did so." 

9. Alfred's Vessels. 
"Alfred the Great, who turned the energies of his 
powerful mind to the task of creating a naval force, which 
should be more than a match for that of his untiring perse- 
cutors, the Danes, himself superintended the formation of 
his fleet, and the vessels he designed were much superior to 
those of the Danes. These vessels were galleys, generally 
rowed with forty oars, some even with sixty, on each side ; 
and were twice as long, deeper, swifter, and less " wavy," or 
rolling, than the ships of the Danes. These vessels were not 
so well adapted for commercial purposes as for warfare, they 
having accommodation for a large force, and affording room 
for fighting ; and this build of ship was mostly used for war, 
until the introduction of cannon rendered other arrange- 
ments necessary." — The Ship: its Origin and Progress. 

10. Defeat of the Danish Fleet. 
" In the year 877, the Pagans, on the approach of autumn, 
partly settled in Exeter, and partly marched for plunder 
into Mercia. The number of that disorderly crew increased 
every day, so that, if thirty thousand of them were slain 
in one battle, others took their places to double the num- 
ber. Then King Alfred ordered boats and galleys, i. e. long 
ships, to be built throughout the kingdom, in order to offer 
battle by sea to the enemy as they were coming. On board 
of these he placed seamen, and appointed them to watch the 
seas. Meanwhile he went himself to Exeter, where the 
Pagans were wintering, and having shut them up within the 
walls, laid siege to the town. He also gave orders to his 
sailors to prevent them from obtaining any supplies by sea ; 
and his sailors were encountered by a fleet of a hundred and 
twenty ships full of armed soldiers, who were come to help 



BOOK I. 195 

their countrymen. As soon as the king's men knew that 
they were fitted with Pagan soldiers, they leaped to their 
arms, and bravely attacked those barbaric tribes : but the 
Pagans, who had now for nearly a month been tossed and 
almost wrecked among the waves of the sea, fought vainly 
against them ; their bands were discomfited in a moment, and 
all were sunk and drowned in the sea, at a place called 
Suanewic* 

" In the same year the army of Pagans, leaving Wareham, 
partly on horseback, and partly by water, arrived at Suane- 
wic, where one hundred and twenty of their ships were lost ; 
and King Alfred pursued their land army as far as Exeter ; 
there he made a covenant with them, and took hostages that 
they would depart. 

"The same year, in the month of August, that army went 
into Mercia, and gave part of that country to one Ceolwulf, 
a weak-minded man, and one of the king's ministers ; the other 
part they divided among themselves." — Assays Life of Alfred. 

1 1 . Chippenham surprised by the Danes. 
"In the year of our Lord's incarnation 878, which was 
the thirtieth of King Alfred's life, the army above-men- 
tioned left Exeter and went to Chippenham, a royal villa, 
situated in the west of Wiltshire, and on the eastern bank 
of the river, which is called in British, the Avon. There 
they wintered, and drove many of the inhabitants of that 
country beyond the sea, by the force of their arms, and by 
want of the necessaries of life. They reduced almost 
entirely to subjection all the people of that country." — Ibid. 

12. Adventure of the Cakes. 

"At the same time the above-named Alfred, king of the 
YVest-Saxons, with a few of his nobles, and certain soldiers 
and vassals, used to lead an unquiet life among the wood- 
lands of the county of Somerset, in great tribulation ; for he 
had none of the necessaries of life, except what he could, 
by frequent sallies, forage openly or stealthily from the 
Pagans, or even from the Christians who had submitted to 
the rule of the Pagans, and as we read in the Life of St. 
Neot, at the house of one of his cowherds. 

" But it happened on a certain day, that the countrywoman, 

wife of the cowherd, was preparing sonic loaves to bake, and 

the king, sitting at the hearth, made ready his bow and 

arrows and other warlike instruments. The unlucky woman 

* Swamvich, in Dorsetshire. 

k2 



196 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

espying the cakes burning at the fire, ran up to remove 
them, and rebuking the brave king, exclaimed : — 

' Ca'sn thee mind the ke-aks, man, an' doossen zee 'em burn ? 
* I'm boun thee's eat 'em vast enough, az zoon az 'tiz the turn.'* 

The blundering woman little thought that it was King 
Alfred, who had fought so many battles against the Pagans, 
and gained so many victories over them." — Ibid. 

The adventure of the cakes is related differently by 
various authors. According to one she exclaimed, " Why 
don't you turn the cakes when you see them burning f You 
will be glad enough to eat them when they are hot" According 
to another the excited woman said angrily to the king, 
" Turn thou those loaves, that they burn not, for I see daily 
that thou art a great eater." In a Latin Life of St. !Neot, 
she says, " Why, man, do you sit thinking there, and are too 
proud to turn the bread? Whatever be your family, with such 
manners and sloth, what trust can be put in you hereafter ? If 
you were even a nobleman, you will be glad to eat the bread 
which you neglect to attend to." 

We will leave it to serious historians and antiquarians to 
search deeply into this very important matter of history, 
(which has already been partly done,) as our work is not 
profound enough to enter into more details regarding such 
serious facts, but its record by three different authors proves 
at least somewhat of it to be founded on truth — a fact we 
cannot assert of many historical traditions. 

Florence, of Worcester, takes no note of the anecdote of 
the cakes, but the peasant, into whose rustic life fortune 
interwove this golden episode, was called, according to the 
above author, Denulf. 

The humble life which Alfred led with the inhabitants of 
the rustic farm-house in Somersetshire, and with his com- 
panions in the woods, who subsisted by hunting and fishing, 
was an admirable school for a prince, who was liable, as is 
said of Alfred in the first part of his reign, to carry his head 
on high, and to despise the petitions of his people. A king, 
moreover, who had gained from books a more extensive 
knowledge of men and things than was usually acquired by 
others in that age, must have felt much and reflected deeply 
upon the degradation to which he was reduced. The prince 
who had led the West- Saxons so often to battle, was at last 
brought to so low a condition, that he was beholden to a 
humble farmer, once his own servant, for his daily bread. 

* The original here is in Latin verse, and may therefore be rendered into 
English verse, but such as every housewife in Somersetshire would understand. 



BOOK I. 197 

The few nobles who had followed him were obliged to dis- 
perse, to procure themselves food. This was a lesson of 
practical wisdom, not to be found in any of the books which 
the king had studied so attentively. It may have been 
delineated in figurative language in some of the verses of 
that book of Poems, which his mother had given him seven- 
teen years before, but it was now brought home to himself 
by a catastrophe which fell like a thunderbolt upon him. 
Though we may justly hesitate to ascribe such events to the 
visible judgments of heaven, or to believe that they occur 
as direct modes of punishment for transgression, yet to the 
wise man — and Alfred certainly was one — they will always 
become real blessings to clear the understanding from vain 
and unprofitable affections, to dispose the will towards the 
path of prudence, and to strengthen the heart and hands to 
struggle more effectually with the difficulties which present 
themselves in life. Neither did this mental discipline come 
on Alfred too early or too late for him to benefit by it. He 
was only twenty-nine years, neither too old and seared to 
receive the salutary lessons of adversity, nor too young and 
yielding to retain them, but of that intermediate age, Avhich 
ushers in the prime and hale period of manhood, when it 
might be hoped that he would have many years before him 
to mature his reflections, to bring forth the true fruits of the 
wisdom which he had gained, and to form that character of 
himself and of his reign which he would wish to go down 
to future ages. 

13. Legend of the appearance of St. Cutlibert to Alfred, and 
his Visit to the Danish Camp. 
" There is a place," is written in the Life of St. Neot, 
"on the furthest extremity of the English, towards the west, 
called Ethelingeye, or the Isle of Nobles, surrounded on 
every side by marshes, and so inaccessible, that it can be 
approached only in a boat. The island contains a great 
grove of alder-trees, wherein are stags, goats, and many 
animals of that kind: it comprises scarcely two acres of solid 
ground. To this island came Alfred alone, for in his dejec- 
tion he left behind him the few soldiers who accompanied 
him, that he might the better avoid the enemy ; and per- 
ceiving there a cottage belonging to some unknown indivi- 
dual, lie went up to it, and asked a lodging, which was 
granted him. For he remained there some days, a stranger 
and poor, doing what the peasant and his wife told him, and 
content witli the merest necessaries. When asked who he 



198 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

was, or what business he had in so lonely a place, he replied, 
that he was one of the king's servants, who had been defeated 
with him in battle, and had escaped to this spot from the 
enemy who were pursuing them. The herdsman, trusting 
to his words, took pity on him, and carefully supplied him 
with the necessaries of life." 

Ingulfs version of the legend of the appearance of St. 
Cuthbert to Alfred, (mentioned at page 17,) a legend like- 
wise mentioned in " Brompton," Simeon of Durham's " His- 
tory of the Church of Durham," and elsewhere, is as follows: 
— " The fortress which Alfred constructed in Athelney he 
afterwards converted into a monastery of monks, in memory 
of the time which he had spent there, and to the exaltation 
of the holy church. One day, when the whole household 
had gone out to fish in the neighbouring marshes, and the 
king was sitting alone in this fortress, engaged in studying 
the holy Scriptures, or reading the exploits of illustrious 
men, as was his constant custom, and the annals of the 
fathers, he heard a poor man knock at the door, and ask 
something to eat for the mercy of God. Calling his mother, 
who was then residing with him, he told her to go to the 
cellar, and give something to the poor Christian man for the 
love of Christ. She went to do as he bade her, but finding- 
only one loaf there, she came and told the king that there 
was not enough for the household, who would soon return 
from fishing. The king, hearing this, (that there should be 
such poverty in a king's larder!) gave devout thanks to God, 
and commanded that half of the loaf should be given to the 
poor servant of Christ, adding these words, ' Blessed be God 
in his gifts ! He is able, if He so will, to increase that half 
immensely, who, when He so willed it, was able to feed five 
thousand men on five loaves and two fishes.' He then dis- 
missed the poor man, and afterwards, fatigued by the Aveight 
of his cares, or by his protracted reading, he went to rest, 
and saw the holy Bishop Cuthbert approach to him, and 
deliver this message in the name of the Lord. 'Pious King 
Alfred, the Lord is moved to pity at the misery of the Eng- 
lish, who have mourned long and deeply for their sins : He 
has, moreover, this day, in the form of a poor man, approved 
your patience, and gratefully received the morsel which you 
gave Him in the midst of your own great want. He pro- 
mises you, through me, that, though you are now a wretched 
exile, you shall soon be victorious over your enemies, and 
triumphantly regain the throne of your kingdom. And this 
shall be a sign to you, that though your household, who are 



BOOK I. 199 

gone out to fish, may find great impediment to their success 
in the winter's ice, yet, by the Divine mercy, they shall gain 
the object of their wishes, and about the third hour of the 
day, shall return with a wonderful quantity of fish.' Saying 
these words, the saint disappeared, and the king awaking, 
told the vision to his mother, who replied that she also, 
whilst asleep in her chamber, had seen the same vision, and 
the same saint, appearing to her in like manner, had ad- 
dressed her in the same words. As they were speaking, the 
fishermen came in from the marshes with an abundance of 
fish, enough to feed a large army." 

The anecdote related in page 18 is confirmed by some, 
and contested by other writers. William of Malmesbury 
tells us that ' f King Alfred used often in later days to speak 
of the time which he spent in the wilds of Somersetshire, of 
the hardships which he daily suffered, and of the dangers 
which continually encompassed him. It was now about five 
months since his troops had been defeated by the enemy, 
and himself obliged to become a fugitive and an outcast." 
But it is more likely that the plan which King Alfred 
adopted was what afterwards mainly conduced to bring 
about his restoration, and the re-establishment of his coun- 
try's freedom. Many indications of this appear in the nar- 
ratives of the old chroniclers. It is probable that the Danes 
owed their success at Chippenham in a great measure to the 
suddenness of their attack, and the king now seems to have 
retaliated upon them by a similar mode of operations. That 
he kept up a communication with his faithful nobles through- 
out the three countries, is evident ; for by a hasty summons 
of a few days, a large army was speedily brought together. 
Before, however, his standard was again spread to the 
breezes, it was Alfred's policy to obtain all the information 
in his power concerning his enemies, to reconnoitre their 
position, their defences, and to examine where they were the 
most exposed to attack from negligence, or the conscious- 
ness of security. The story which is told of Alfred has been 
credited by some, and rejected as fabulous by others. It 
certainly is not found in Asser's Biography, nor in the other 
five early chronicles ; but it is told by Ingulf, who lived at 
the time of the Norman Conquest, and may have had access 
to other records which since have perished. It is also found 
in the " History of the Kings of England," by Malmesbury, 
who was not prone to listen to fables, unless they were such 
as rested on the authority of the church. Neither does the 
anecdote seem to be at all improbable, when we consider the 



200 

nature of the times, and the great simplicity of kings, who 
mixed with their subjects without that affectation of pomp 
and dignity, which at present are used as a substitute for 
departed power. It was the king's intention to assemble his 
troops and to surprise the enemy unprepared, as they had 
before surprised him at Chippenham. To strike a sure blow, 
it was necessary that he should be able to depend upon the 
accuracy of his information. If he failed at this crisis of his 
fate, a second chance would probably never present itself: 
he could not trust the eyes or ears of an ordinary spy, and 
he determined to go himself and inspect the motions of the 
enemy. Now it was that he derived a practical benefit from 
the subjects of his early education. The Saxon poems and 
ballads, which he drunk in with an attentive ear in his 
youth, were still fresh in his mind, and the harp, which 
almost every person of decent condition in those days could 
touch, was not silent in the king's hands. The profession of 
a minstrel was held in general estimation among the northern 
nations. Singing the deeds of war, they were themselves 
exempt from its terrors : the sword and spear were lowered 
to greet the gleeman who chanced to enter the tent of the 
warrior, and many a time did the savage chieftain, melting 
at the plaintive melody of song, verify the words of the poet, 
who sings that 

" Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast ! " 

To effect his purpose, Alfred adopted the costume of a Saxon 
minstrel, and set out for the Danish camp, which was still in 
the neighbourhood of Chippenham; for so total seems to 
have been the defeat of the English, that the enemy imagined 
they were annihilated, and gave themselves up to security 
ancl enjoyment. The king was admitted without difficulty 
to their camp, and had an opportunity of seeing every thing 
which was passing within. He, perhaps, may have been 
brought into the presence of Guthrum himself, and witnessed 
the ease and confidence which reigned in that chieftain's 
tent. When he had satisfied himself on all the points which 
he wished to know, he returned to Athelney, a distance of 
thirty or forty miles. 

14. Capture of the Standard of the Northmen. 
Spelman relates that "instead of this battle, there were 
two ; in the first of which, Odin alone was victorious, and 
conquered the general standard of the Northmen. In the 
second, Alfred vanquished the robbers, and soon after com- 
pelled them to surrender." 



BOOK I. 201 

15. The Magic Standard. 
"This," says Sir Jolm Spelman, "was a banner, with, 
the image of a raven magically wrought by the three sisters 
of Hinguar and Hubba, on purpose for their expedition, in 
revenge of their father, Lodebroch's murder ; made, they 
say, almost in an instant, being by them at once begun and 
finished in a noontide, and believed by the Danes to have 
carried great fatality with it, for which it was highly es- 
teemed by them. It is pretended, that being carried in a 
battle, towards good success it would alway seem to clap its 
wings, and make as if it would fly ; but towards the approach 
of mishap it would hang down and not move." 

Asser relates that his relative, St. Neot, appeared to him 
in a dream, and comforted him with the assurance that the 
next day would end all his calamities : " The next morning 
he marched to Ethandune, and there fought a fierce and 
well-contested battle against all the army of the Pagans, 
whom, with the Divine help, he defeated with great slaugh- 
ter, and pursued them flying to their fortification. Immedi- 
ately he slew all the men and carried off all the booty he 
could find outside the fortress, which he afterwards laid siege 
to with all his army, When fourteen days were expired, 
the Pagans, compelled by famine, cold, fear, and lastly by 
despair, asked for peace, on condition that they should give 
the king as many hostages as he pleased, but should receive 
none from him in return, in which form they had never 
before made a treaty with any one. The king showed them 
mercy, and received such hostages as he chose, after which 
the Pagans swore also, that they would immediately leave 
the kingdom; and their king, G-uthrum, promised to em- 
brace Christianity, and receive baptism at King Alfred's 
hands. All of which articles he and his men fulfilled as they 
had promised. For, seven weeks afterwards, King Guthrum 
himself, with thirty chosen men of his army, came to Alfred 
at a place called Aller, near Athelncy, and there King 
Alfred, receiving him as his son by adoption, raised him 
from the holy laver of baptism on the eighth day, at the 
royal villa of Wedmore, where the holy ointment was poured 
upon him. After his baptism, he remained twelve days 
with the king, who, with all hi? nobles, gave him many fine 
houses." 

So brief a narrative of the victory at Ethandune, which 

replaced Alfred more firmly than before on the throne of 

his kingdom, has naturally given much subject for inquiry 

to the critics and commentators, who have endeavoured to 

k3 



202 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

trace the movements of the king's army in this rapid and 
glorious campaign. There is nothing better established in 
history than the identity of Ethelingeye, where Alfred's 
fortress in the marshes was constructed, with the modern 
Athelney. Capricious fortune has mercifully spared the 
antiquary the greater mortification which a doubt on this 
point would have produced. A beautiful jewel was found 
many years ago on the spot ; and the original is still pre- 
served in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Did the king- 
drop this gem in the hurry of his frequent sallies on the 
enemy, and equally hasty retreats to his fortress ? or, was 
it deposited in the monastery, which Alfred afterwards con- 
structed there, as a precious personal relic of the great king, 
and of the heroic stand which he there made to defend the 
rights of his throne and the liberties of his people ? These 
are questions which we cannot answer ; for the speechless 
relic tells us no more than that it is as old as the time of 
Alfred, which is evident from the style of workmanship, and 
the Saxon writing, " Alfred had me worked," with which 
it is. inscribed. An engraving of the reverse of this jewel, 
with the above sentence, will be found in p. 186, and the 
face on the embossed cover of this book. 
16. River Stowe. 
This river is called by Asser " Sture," and is remarkable, 
inasmuch that Zocrin, who lived shortly after the death 
of Brutus, and married Guendolama, the daughter of Cori- 
neus, was killed there by the shot of an arrow, and his wife 
afterwards took upon her the government of the whole 
kingdom. 

17. London Rebuilt, and Erection of Castles. 

"In 868," says Asser, "after the burning of cities and 
the slaughter of his people, he honourably rebuilt the city 
of London, and made it again habitable. He gave it into 
the custody of his son-in-law, Ethelred, Earl of Mercia; 
for all the Angles and Saxons, who had before been dis- 
persed everywhere, or were in captivity with the Pagans, 
voluntarily turned and submitted themselves to his do- 
minion." 

The king's ministers had previously neglected and partly 
refused to fulfil their master's commands, concerning the 
erection of castles, and preferred, with true Saxon blood, to 
face their enemies in an open field of battle, rather than 
retire for safety behind the walls of a fortress. The king 
himself zealously discharged such of these duties which 



BOOK I. 203 

came under his own immediate care, and restored the towns 
and cities that were dilapidated, to more than their former 
condition ; but when they beheld the king's talent, they 
with one voice praised the royal wisdom, and tried with all 
their power to fulfil what they had before refused, namely — 
the erection of castles, and other things useful to the whole 
kingdom. 

Spelman seems to have thought that Alfred was the first 
to construct buildings of hewn stones, which can be judged 
by the following passage : — " Xeither was the reparation 
notable in regard of the greatness and universality only, 
but it was also of an extraordinary kind, both in regard of 
the materials, and of the new manner ; for, when the walls 
of towns and castles were but wood, and combustible, (as 
we may see by those of York and Rochester, that they 
generally then were,) stone buildings were very rare, till 
Alfred made them more frequent." 

According to Hearne, he was the founder of Middleton, 
and Barfbot in Kent, of Devizes in Wilts, and of Alfreton 
in Derbyshire. Malmesbury, and the city of Xorwich, 
were also restored, and some additions made to them. 

18. Various Conflicts with the Danes in 893-94. 

"In the year 893, one year after the barbarians fought 
against King Arnulf, they go to Boulogne, and there build 
a fleet, and pass over into England. There they station 
their fleet in the Limnean port, at a place called Apoldre 
[Appledore, in the eastern part of Kent,] and destroy an 
ancient castle, because there was but a small band of rustics 
within, and there they make their winter camp. In the 
course of this year, a large fleet belonging to Hasten arrives 
on the banks of the river Thames, and found a citadel on 
the coasts of Kent, at a place called Middleton [Milton] : 
they encamp there the whole winter ; and the number of 
years that had elapsed from the glorious nativity of our 
Saviour was nine hundred all but seven." 

The Monk of Malmesbury says, that "with his usual 
activity, the king was present in every action, ever daunting 
the invaders, and at the same time inspiring his subjects 
with the signal display of his own courage. He would 
oppose himself singly to the enemy; and by his personal 
exertions rally his forces whenever they were wavering; 
the very places are still pointed out by the inhabitants, 
where he felt the vicissitudes of his good or evil fortune." 

"Undismayed at the intelligence which arrived from 



204 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

Devonshire, the king divided his forces into two bodies, one 
of which he despatched against the Danes in Bemfleet, 
whilst he hastened with the other to raise the siege of Exeter. 
The party which was detached eastward arrived at London, 
where they were reinforced by a body of the citizens and 
others from the west of England, after which they pursued 
their march to Bemfleet The great army which had been 
at Appledore was now within the Danish lines, but Hasting 
was absent on a plundering excursion, which he was making 
for the second time, in breach of his treaty with the brave 
Ethelred, in Mercia. The English stormed the fortress, and 
took all the spoil that was therein, besides all the women 
and children; they broke in pieces or burnt many of the 
Danish ships : the rest they carried into Rochester or to 
London, together with all the prisoners and booty. Among 
the captives were the wife and children of Hasting : and 
this calamity having its due effect upon the mind of the 
haughty Dane, a second treaty was entered into, hostages 
for its observance were given, and the wife and children sent 
back unhurt to the Danish camp, 

" In the mean time Alfred arrived at Exeter, where he 
found the enemy laying siege to the city : the Danes 
decamped at his approach, and fled to their ships. The 
king was thus at liberty to return into the eastern parts of 
the kingdom, but from some circumstances which have not 
been handed down to us, we find that he remained some 
weeks longer in Devonshire. During this delay in the west, 
the broken armies of the enemy had rallied from their late 
defeats, and again entrenched themselves at Shobury in 
Essex, but soon after being reinforced by a large body of 
East-Anglian and [Northumbrian Danes, they marched 
inland, following the course of the Thames ; from thence 
crossing to the Severn, they marched up the banks of that 
river to Buttington, probably the small town which is still 
so called, and is situated on a stream of the same name in 
Gloucestershire. But their progress through Mercia was 
not effected without rousing its inhabitants to arms. The 
brave Ethelred, its ruler, together with the aldermen, 
Ethelm and Ethelnoth, and the king's thane, who were in 
custody of the fortresses in those parts, assembled their 
troops from all the towns of the river Perrot, and joined 
by some forces from Mercia and Xorth Wales, they shut the 
Danish army up in their fortified camp. Here they besieged 
them several weeks, during the time the king's army was 
still at Exeter. At length the besieged began to be in want 



BOOK I. 205 

of food, and were compelled to eat their horses. Some of 
them died of starvation; the rest, taking courage from 
despair, sallied out upon the English, who lay upon the 
eastern side of the Severn, and engaged them in battle. 
The contest was fierce and bloody ; Orfchelm and many 
other king's thanes were slain, but the Danes were entirely 
defeated, and, having lost a large number of men, sought 
safety in flight. Those who survived this defeat, took refuge 
at the fortress in Essex ; where before the winter they 
received such reinforcements out of East Anglia and Nor- 
thumberland, that they were again able to move, and pursue 
their ravages as before. Committing their ships, their wives, 
and all their effects to the guardianship of the friendly East 
Anglians, they " went at one stretch" — such is the expression 
of the Saxon Chronicle — " day and night," until they arrived 
at Chester, at that time uninhabited. This march was con- 
ducted with such speed, that the English were unable to 
come up with them : the Danes were already safe within the 
city, and the troops of Alfred slew all they found without 
the walls, took all the cattle, and burnt or consumed all the 
corn in the fields. This happened at the end of 894, not 
much more than twelve months after Hasting first came over 
from France." — " Life and Times of Alfred the Great" by 
Dr. Giles. 

19. Capture of the Danish Fleet on the River Lea. 
" In the beginning of the year 896, the Danes, sailing 
up the Thames, turned to the right, and followed the course 
of the river Lea, until they came to the neighbourhood of 
the modern towns of Hertford and Ware, about twenty 
miles from London. Here they constructed their fortifica- 
tions as usual ; and the citizens of London, alarmed at their 
proximity, marched out at the approach of summer to attack 
them. In the battle which ensued the Londoners were 
worsted, and, with the loss of " some four king's thanes," 
obliged to retreat. The king now arrived with his troops, 
and encamped near London, to protect the reapers as they 
were gathering in the crops. One day the king, riding 
along the banks of the river, observed a place, where the 
river might be so obstructed that the ships of the Danes 
would not be able to pass. The idea was immediately put 
into effect, and two fortresses constructed on the opposite 
banks of the river. The English had hardly set themselves 
down to accomplish this work, before the Danes saw the evil 
which would inevitably ensue to their shipping. Abandoning 



206 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

these to their fate, they hastily left their position on the Lea, 
and crossing the [country, arrived at Quatbridge, (supposed 
to be the modern Bridgenorth,) or Quatford, on the Severn. 
Here they speedily entrenched themselves, and the third 
year of the campaign passed away with, apparently, little 
prospect that a war against so active and vivacious an enemy 
would ev er come to an end. 

"But, in reality, the strength of the Danish invaders was 
now departed from them. Though often reinforced by their 
friends, the old Danish settlers, the tide of success was evi- 
dently setting against them, and the policy or the mercy of 
Alfred was directed to separate the interests of the Danes 
located in the island from those of the new coiners. His 
armies, too, were more than a match for the whole united army, 
which, by its frequent defeats, were lessened in numbers, and 
dispirited in courage. Their fleet, also, by Alfred's stratagem 
on the river Lea, was now lost to them. The citizens of 
London took possession of the ships in the Lea, whilst 
Alfred's army gallopped westwards after the enemy : some 
of the best of the vessels were towed to London, others 
were destroyed, and the enemy's main dependence in all 
enterprises, their fleet, was entirely annihilated." — Ibid. 

20. Alfred and Hasting. 
Alfred can be regarded with impartiality as the cham- 
pion of a settled society, of equal rights, and of civilized 
life, while his opponent, Hasting, represents the barbarian 
roving over the world with no law but that of his sword ; 
he may inflict for a time the greatest woes upon mankind, 
but will assuredly fall at last the victim of a ferocious, sys- 
tem which engulphs all that enter into it. 

21. Flattery. 
We here perceive, that princes have, at all times, been 
surrounded with flatterers, to whom they could not resist 
lending a too willing ear. That intoxicating poison — 
flattery — had fortunately no effect upon Alfred. But 
even our author was not free from it ; for although he has 
not, we are glad to see, employed it in the narrative of 
Alfred's life, almost wholly founded upon historical facts — 
yet, in his dedication to George III., he has used a no 
small dose of that drug, wherefore we have altogether 
omitted it. 



207 



BOOK II. 



22. Alfred's Marriage. 

The episode of Alfred's love, which our author has intro- 
duced in his history, and which there forms the sixth book, 
seems not at all to be founded upon history, which he 
acknowledges himself, pretending that tradition alone has 
preserved its memory in an ancient song, entitled " Edgar 
and Emma." All our researches in the British Museum, and 
other libraries, to discover the authenticity of that son^, 
were fruitless. We will, however, not therefore accuse it 
of being a mere fiction, although it seems that Haller wished 
to render his book interesting to the Germans by that episode. 
His purpose was probably to make his serious doctrines more 
popular, by giving them a romantic drapery, which he owns 
himself in his preface. We know not whether such a system 
is applicable in this country, as the English may be con- 
sidered as complete professors of gravity, and masters in the 
art de s'ennuyer. They all like to read that — ivhicJi is in 
their line; but even in spite of this custom, Walter Scott, 
Bulwer, and other authors, have succeeded in using his- 
torical canvasses for romantic tales. 

With respect to Alfred's marriage, history relates, that 
although Alfred was a very good husband, and Elswitha a 
very honourable lady, their marriage was not one of passion- 
ate love, but rather a political calculation of his mother 
Osburga, who probably, like Rachel in the Holy Writ, wished 
that her son Alfred might take a wife out of her own coun- 
try, Mercia. Among the noblemen of that province was a 
namesake of the West-Saxon king, Ethelred, alderman of 
the Ganii, surnamed from his size," Mickle," or " the Big." 
The wife of this Ethelred was Edburga, descended from the 
Mercian royal family, and probably a relative of Osburga. 
But Edburga, unlike the former queen of that name, who 
disgraced her family and rank, was a virtuous, and, in the 
language of Asser, who saw her a few years before her death, 



208 NOTES, COMMENTAEIES, ETC. 

" a venerable lady, who survived her husband, and passed 
the remainder of her life in widowhood." This lady, by 
Ethelred, had a daughter named Elswitha, whom Alfred now 
asked and obtained in marriage. The union was a happy 
one, as has been inferred by Turner, from the earnestness 
with which Alfred, in his translation of Boethius, speaks on 
the subject of connubial affection. 

23. License of Poetical Fiction. 
Although unlikely that ladies of the highest rank should 
deign to look down upon common servants, this impro- 
bability has often been made use of in poetical fiction, 
and still oftener greatly abused. This privilege has but 
lately been so far extended by Victor Hugo, in his drama of 
" Ruy Bias," as to let a queen fall in love with a livery 
servant. The absurdity of the exaggeration is, however, 
from the great skill of the author, scarcely perceived by the 
audience, during the performance of the drama. 

24. Hunting and Falconry. 

Asser thus describes the arts of hunting and falconry 
among the laborious pursuits of Alfred : — " The Saxons 
brought with them, out of Germany, a strong liking for the 
pleasures and dangers of the chase : hunting was held to be 
a necessary part of a liberal education; it inured the Saxon 
youth to hardihood, made them active, patient of toil, and 
prompt to extricate themselves from the dangers into which 
a headlong pursuit after the wild beasts of the forest might 
lead them. The king had been bred up from his boyhood to 
this exercise, and continued to practise it, and to encourage 
it among his subjects, as a means of raising their manly cou- 
rage, whilst it added to the state and magnificence of his own 
court. 

"It may be added, that the breed of English dogs has been 
remarkable from the days of Neniesian and Oppian : and 
was not likely to have escaped the attention of the observant 
king. The extensive marshes also, and the inundations 
which so frequently deluged the plains on the banks of the 
English rivers, furnished great temptations and facilities for 
the successful prosecution of falconry." 



209 



BOOK III. 



25. Alfred" s firmness undaunted. 
England had enjoyed comparative tranquillity during 
fifteen years, namely, from 878 to 893 ; and the reign of 
Alfred may be divided into three periods, according to the 
varied character of the events which predominated at diffe- 
rent times. The first period comprehends seven years, from 
his accession to the throne in 871, to his defeat at Chippen- 
ham, and expulsion from his throne in 878. This part of his 
life is diversified by few occurrences, which were thought 
worthy to be transmitted to posterity, though it comprises 
the two last attempts which the Danes made to reduce 
Wessex to the state of servitude, in which the rest of the 
island was bound. The short and decisive campaign, which 
first threw this able wrestler, and afterwards raised him from 
his fall stronger and more vigorous than before, may be 
looked on as one of those tests, by which superior talents 
occasionally are tried. It was a necessary discipline for the 
king's mind ; for a king must not engross himself too deeply 
in the arts of peace alone; or devote the whole of his time 
to learning and religion. If then Alfred had sunk under 
the trial to which his firmness was exposed in 878, if he had 
fled to a safer home, and left his kingdom a prey to the bar- 
barians, his name would have come down to us, not as the 
focus of glories that will ever dazzle the eye and fill the mind 
of those who contemplate them, but as the worthy contem- 
porary and equal of Burrhed, king of Mereia, and other 
kings, who in the age immediately preceding that of Alfred, 
made no scruple to abandon the high and useful stations in 
which Providence had placed them. 

26. A few Remarks on Juries. 
Our author's remarks on the jurymen should the more 
be appreciated, since this manner of administering justice 



210 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

has, in the present century been, and will still more be intro- 
duced throughout the whole of Europe, as it has already- 
been in the United States, France, the Rhenish-Prussian 
provinces, and other states ; but we fear that it will in reality, 
in some of those countries, be no improvement of true jus- 
tice ; for neither the character of the French, nor that of the 
Germans, are fitted for it. No objection can be made to the 
publicity given to such trials, as that prevents any of those 
abuses which took place under the arbitrary manner in 
which judgments were previously given in other countries, 
and principally under the Spanish Inquisition, under the 
tribunal of Venice, and even in France, whereof the unfor- 
tunate fate of Jean Calas is a sad example, without calcu- 
lating the many abuses of lettres de cachet, &c. But the 
foundation of justice, which is impregnated in all English 
hearts, their coolness and moderation, even when not favoured 
with a sufficient scientific education, cannot be found in any 
other nation ; and to that it may be attributed, that these 
institutions, created since so many centuries, are still pre- 
served, without having undergone any reform. 

But, like a worn-out coat, all things that have remained 
unaltered during so long a period, require some repairs. 
We think that some reforms are necessary, as judges, accu- 
sers, and defendants, as well as juries, deviate from the 
functions they were originally intended to fulfil. 

The accuser endeavours to make an impression by his 
acuteness, whereby he composes, through evidence, sus- 
picion, and probability, an ensemble, intended to awe the 
defendant, whilst he should only give a simple narrative of 
the facts, without any comment on his part. 

The judge who, in former times, was only the leader of 
the transaction, endeavours, from ambition, to acquire popu- 
larity and fame, by seeming impartiality, but considering his 
own opinions and views as supreme as his power, he imparts 
them to the jury, whilst he should strictly keep to the letter 
of the law. Sometimes he is too severe, sometimes too 
mild; but the jury almost always feel, by various means, 
his preponderance, which often breaks out — not in expound- 
ing the law — but in jokes and sarcasms. 

The defender who, in former times, sought to affect the 
judges by his eloquence, now looks upon that means with 
contempt, and does not take the trouble to prove the greater 
or lesser extent of the crime imputed to the culprit, but 
merely to detect some technical flaw in the indictment. 

The jurors, who are not acquainted with the law, and not 



BOOK III. 211 

guided by a regular code, judge according to their own 
impression; they consider far too much the tranquillity of 
society, and the necessity of warning examples, as to weigh 
scrupulously the arguments for guilt or innocence, thinking 
it sometimes their duty to be severe, and at others the reverse. 
Thus the punishments are generally more severe and cruel 
in England than in other civilized countries, without the 
situation of society being thereby improved. It were quite 
superfluous for us to cite examples of what we assert ; the 
record of the judgments given during the last epochs is 
an ample proof. 

27. Anglo-Saxon Legislation before Alfred and Alfred's 
Code. 

The Saxon laws of Ethelbert, Ina, Withred, and Offa, 
which formed the Anglo-Saxon legislation previous to 
Alfred's time, were few and imperfect. Ninety short sen- 
tences contain all that has been preserved of the laws of 
Ethelbert, King of Kent. Sixteen sentences contain the 
Dooms of his successors, Lothaire and Edric : and twenty 
sentences comprise all the laws that have survived of 
Withred, another king of the same province. The subjects 
to which these ordinances apply are a few of the most 
obvious injuries that occur in a simple state of society. 
It is remarkable, that almost every crime, from murder to 
the smallest petty larceny, had its value, and might be 
compensated by the payment of a sum of money. Another 
celebrated legislator was Ina, King of the West- Saxons, 
a few pages of whose laws have also been preserved. It 
must not, however, be omitted, that the laws of Ina have 
come down to us not in a separate and independent form, 
but appended to those of Alfred, to whose care in collecting 
and preserving the ancient jurisprudence of his country, we 
are indebted for all that we now know of the subject. 

As the West- Saxons owed their principal code of laws to 
Ina, so was Offa, the legislator of the Mercians ; but his 
laws have not been preserved ; and if in later times Alfred 
published a separate collection for the use of Mereia, with* 
the laws of Offa annexed, as those of Ina were attached to the 
laws of Wessex, that collection also has either perished, or 
has not yet been discovered. It might be expected that the 
laws of a people, emergim:, under the auspices of the 
Church, from barbarism, would be strongly tinged with the 
opinions of the clerks who compiled them. In fact, the 
whole of these legislative codes are based upon the autho- 



212 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

rity of the Scriptures and of the Church. The first ordi- 
nance of Ethelbert enacts, that the abstraction of any 
property belonging to God or to the Church shall be com- 
pensated for by twelve times its value. 

Alfred's laws were founded upon the Apostolic Council 
held in Jerusalem, and upon the Constitution gradually 
collected by the Church since the time of the Apostles. 

The code of Alfred, which is contained in Thorpe's 
" Ancient Laws," Yol. I. p. 59, and the former ones from 
p. 1 to 43, and from p. 102 to 151, are as follow: — 

" Wherefore I, Alfred, king, gathered these together, and 
commanded many of those to be written which our fore- 
fathers held, those which to me seemed good ; and many of 
those which seemed to me not good, I rejected, by the coun- 
sel of my ' witan' [parliament,] and in other wise com- 
manded them to be holden ; for I durst not venture to set 
down in writing much of my own ; for it was unknown to 
me what of it would please those who should come after us. 
But those things which I met with, either of the days of Ina 
my kinsman, or of Offa, king of the Mercians, or of Ethel- 
bert, who first among the English race received baptism, 
those which seemed to me the rightest, those I have here 
gathered together, and rejected the others. I, then, Alfred, 
king of the West- Saxons, showed these to all my witan, and 
they then said that it seemed good to them all to be holden." 

The nature of all the laws in Alfred's code is peculiar and 
striking to our present notions. The principle of compen- 
sation for offences, of values attached to different ranks, and 
of taking sanctuary in the Church until the compensation 
could be assessed, engendered a complicated system, which 
ramified into almost as many precedents as there were cases. 
An instance or two of these laws will set this in a stronger 
light. 

" If any one, for whatever crime, flee to any of the mins- 
ter-hams, &c„ let him have three days to protect himself, 
unless he is willing to come to terms. If during this space 
any one harm him by blow or by bond, or wound him, let 
him make compensation, &c, for each of these, according to 
regular usage, &c. &c, and to the brotherhood, 120 shillings 
as compensation for the church-frith [breach of church 
privilege,'] &c." 

"If a man be born dumb or deaf, so that he cannot 
acknowledge or confess his offences, let his father make com- 
pensation for his misdeeds." 

" If a man, kinless of paternal relatives, fight, and slay a 



BOOK III. 213 

man ; then if he have maternal relatives, let them pay a 
third of the ' Aver,' {fine or compensation-money-^] his guild- 
brethren another third, and for a third let him See. If he 
have no maternal relatives, let his guild-brethren pay half, 
and for the other half let him flee." 

The law concerning 'boc-lands' seems to show that a 
species of entail existed as early as the days of Alfred. 

" The man who has boc-land," — i. e. land held by deeds 
or writings, — " and which his kindred left him, we ordain 
that he must not give it from his kinsfolk ; if there be wri- 
ting or witness that it was forbidden by those men who at 
first acquired it, and by those who gave it to him, that he 
should do so ; and then let that be declared in the presence 
of the king and of the bishop, before his kinsmen." 

The laws of Ina, adopted by Alfred for his own, are of 
the same general character ; the following examples may 
suffice : — 

" Let a child, within thirty days, be baptized. If it be 
not so, let him make compensation with thirty shillings; 
but, if it die without baptism, let him make compensation 
for it with all that he has." 

" If any one be guilty of death, and he flee to a church, 
let him have his life, and make compensation as the law may 
direct him. If any one put his hide in peril, and flee to a 
church, let the scourging be forgiven him." 

" If any one steal, so that his wife and his children know 
it not, let him pay sixty shillings, as compensation ; but if 
he steal with the knowledge of all his household, let them 
all go into slavery. A boy of ten years may be privy to a 
theft." 

It is manifest that such laws as these belong to an infant 
state of things, and can be of no other use in the present 
day than as illustrating the steps by which legislation has 
progressed from its first simple elements, to the long and 
laborious Acts of Parliament by which our existing society 
is regulated. 

It is of more importance to the character of Alfred, that 
the laws, such as they were in his time, were equitably 
administered. In every country and in every age, those who 
possess wealth and influence insensibly form themselves 
into a caste, from which they endeavour to exclude those 
who have fewer advantages than themselves. Almost all 
the revolutions which have afflicted the world, have arisen 
out of the difficulty of adjusting rights between the higher 
and lower classes of society. It is to be believed, for the 



214 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

credit of our nature, that these strifes would have been pre- 
vented, if the contending parties could have agreed before- 
hand that each should take charge of the interests of the 
other. The practice of the truly Christian rule, " to do to 
others as you would they should do unto you," would sever 
all the discords which are engendered among mankind. The 
rich, even those who are most elevated and pampered by 
their prosperity, have still a spark of kindly feeling towards 
those who are struggling beneath them, and to whose level 
they know they themselves, in the vicissitudes of things, are 
liable to be reduced. On the other hand, the poor in general 
are unwilling to destroy every thing above them, because, 
in a moment of accidental prosperity, they may hope to rise 
to a higher position, and to enjoy a larger portion of the 
goods of life. If reason could usurp her rights over the 
minds of men, many of the evils which spring from the 
collision of classes would vanish. But man is mostly sub- 
ject to the dictates, not of reason, but of passion, and that 
which reason would have guided into the harbour of safety, 
becomes, under the conduct of passion, an entangled maze, 
out of which nothing but just and equitable laws can extri- 
cate mankind. In the civil wars, which so long afflicted 
England in the time of Alfred, the nobles had attained to 
such a pitch of lawlessness and self-will, that the rights of 
their inferiors were little respected, and the courts of jus- 
tice, if not entirely suppressed, were merely legalized forms 
of injustice, which, dictated from the mouth of ignorance, 
were carried into effect by the hand of oppression. To 
remedy this evil was the principal aim and the highest glory 
of Alfred. He who pronounces a just sentence, unbiassed 
by the frowns of power or the allurements of favour, exalts 
himself above his equals, and commands the respect of man- 
kind. " The poor," says Asser, — and the poor in those days 
comprehended probably every one but the king, the nobles, 
and the church, — " had no other protector but the king." 
What a comprehensive and magnificient idea of kingly 
power is compressed into that sentence ! With what eager- 
ness will all men strive to defend the throne, which is built 
upon such a basis, the basis of equally administering jus- 
tice, and of protecting those who are unable to protect 
themselves! 

The king's courts, in those times, were more properly so 
called than at present. The sovereign himself, like the 
eastern caliphs, often administered justice in person : Alfred 
certainly did so ; and Asser records to his praise, that he 



BOOK III. 215 

strove, in his own judgments, to hold the scales of justice 
even between all his subjects, whether noble or ignoble. At 
the courts held by his earls and prefects, the most unbe- 
coming quarrels often arose : the suitors seldom acquiesced 
in the sentence which those officers pronounced ; and sought 
with the greatest eagerness to carry their causes before the 
king himself. "If any one," continues Asser, "was con- 
scious of injustice on his side in the suit, though by law and 
agreement he was compelled, however reluctant, to go before 
the king, yet with his own good will he never would consent 
to go. For he knew that in the king's presence no part of 
his wrong would be hidden ; and no wonder, for the king 
was a most acute investigator in passing sentence, as he was 
in all other things. He inquired into almost all the judg- 
ments which were given in his own absence, throughout all 
his dominions, whether they were just or unjust. If he per- 
ceived there was iniquity in those judgments, he summoned 
the judges, either through his own agency, or through 
others of his faithful servants, and asked them mildly, why 
they had judged so unjustly; whether through ignorance 
or malevolence ; i. e. whether for the love or fear of any one, 
or hatred of others ; or perhaps for the desire of money. 
At length, if the judges acknowledged they had given 
judgment because they knew no better, he discreetly and 
moderately reproved their inexperience and folly in such 
terms as these : ; I wonder truly at your insolence, that, 
whereas, by God's favour and mine, you have occupied the 
rank and office of the wise, you have neglected the studies 
and labours of the wise : either, therefore, at once give up 
the discharge of the temporal duties which you hold, or 
endeavour more zealously to study the lessons of wisdom. 
Such are my commands.' At these words the earls and pre- 
fects would tremble, and endeavour to turn all their thoughts 
to the study of j ustice, so that, wonderful to say, almost all 
his earls, prefects, and officers, though unlearned from their 
cradles, were sedulously bent upon acquiring learning, 
choosing rather laboriously to acquire the knowledge of a 
new discipline, than to resign their functions." 

28. Division of England into Counties, 8fC 
Alfred, for the better administration of justice, first di- 
vided the kingdom into counties, each of which was sub- 
divided into hundreds, and each hundred into tithings. We 
find no trace of this in the earlier chronicles, and it is un- 
likely that Asser would have overlooked so important an 



216 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

institution, if it had been introduced by the policy of Alfred. 
It is another strong argument against the theory* that several 
of the English counties occur in the chronicles long before 
the time of Alfred : others were evidently carved out of the 
ruins of the Heptarchy : and all of them came into existence 
at different times, according to the various circumstances 
which gave them birth. A striking instance in support of 
this theory is, that during the whole reign of Alfred, the 
counties of Norfolk and Suffolk were still undivided, and 
both formed the kingdom of East-Anglia, whilst the whole 
of Mercia, or at least the greater part of it, became one large 
earldom, the several counties, into which it was afterwards 
parcelled, not being yet in existence. 

But, although several of the English counties are cer- 
tainly older than the time of Alfred, we must not altogether 
hastily dismiss the express statement of Ingulf, who is a 
very respectable chronicler, where he is not misled by the 
charters of his own monastery. "The king," says he, "wish- 
ing to check and restrain robbers, was the first who changed 
the districts and provinces of England into counties." We 
may perhaps reasonably infer, that though not the original 
author of the division into counties, yet the king availed 
himself of that division to promote his own views, and per- 
haps arranged the administration of these counties on a 
more regular and systematic plan than before. 

Whatever change he wrought in the counties themselves, 
it is less a matter of doubt that their subdivision into hun- 
dreds, and of hundreds into tithings, is one of the features 
of his administration. Both Ingulf and Malmesbury agree 
in this statement. The words of the latter may be quoted 
on this subject : — " Amid the sound of trumpets and the 
din of war, Alfred enacted statutes by which his people might 
equally familiarize themselves to religious worship and to 
military discipline. And since, from the example of the 
barbarians, the natives themselves began to lust after rapine, 
insomuch that there was no safe intercourse without a mili- 
tary guard, he appointed centuries, which they call 'Hun- 
dreds,' and decennaries, or 'Tithings,' so that every Eng- 
lishman, living according to law, should be a member of 
both." 

The custody of each province had been formerly in the 
care of the earl or alderman, who had under him an assistant 
officer, called prcefectus, or vicedominus. These officers 
united the political with the judicial functions. This ano- 
maly was soon detected by Alfred, who separated their duties, 



BOOK III. 217 

and appointed judges, or, as they were called in Ingulfs 
time, "justices," to decide causes; whilst the sheriffs, as the 
other officers were named, continued to exercise the duties 
which properly belonged to them. 

Springing out of the civil division of the county into 
hundreds and tithings, is another institution, that of Frank- 
pledge, as it is generally called, which has been ascribed to 
Alfred, not by any of the earlier chroniclers, but by Ingulf 
and Malmesbury, from whom succeeding writers have mostly 
copied. "If any one was accused of any crime, he was 
obliged immediately to produce persons from the hundred 
and tithing to become his surety ; and if any one was 
unable to find a surety, he had cause to dread the severity 
of the law. If any one who was impleaded made his escape, 
either before or after he had found a surety, all persons of 
the hundred and tithing paid a fine to the king." 

29. Burgraves. 
Our German author has made use of this expression, 
which we have adopted, and we must acknowledge our un- 
certainty whether these functions were among those called 
prcefectus, or vicedominus, which however we do not believe, 
because the etymology of that word is composed of the 
German words burg, castle or burg, and graf, earl or count, 
who, when engaged in lower functions, is also called castellan; 
but he is then only a steward, or major domo, and not a noble- 
man. The word burgrave, as used by Haller, seems to us 
to imply governor of a castle or district. 

30. Golden Bracelets hung on Trees. 
Nearly similar acts are recorded of King Edwin ; also 
of Frothi, King of Denmark; of Rollo, Duke of Nor- 
mandy ; and of Briant, King of Munster. 

31. Ignorance of the Nobdity. 
It sometimes happened that Alfred's earls and prefects 
were too old or of too dense intellect to begin learning to 
read. In such a case, Alfred took their sons, or some more 
distant kinsman, whom he instructed to read to them ; or if 
no other person could be found, he made one of his own 
men, whom he had brought up to reading, undertake the 
office of teacher, and recite Saxon books before the ignorant 
noblemen, whenever they could find time for so doing. The 
result of this useful but to us rather humorous process 
was, that the nobles, in the words of Asser, " lamented with 

L 



218 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

deep sighs, in their inmost hearts, that in their youth they 
had never attended to such studies ; and they blessed the 
young men of our days, who happily could be instructed in 
the liberal arts, whilst they execrated their own lot, that 
they had not learned these things in their youth, and now, 
when they were old, though wishing to learn, they were 
unable." The ignorance and other deficiences of Alfred's 
judges were, however, leniently dealt with, in comparison 
with the punishment which the king inflicted on partiality 
and wilful injustice. His severity on this head has been 
recorded in general terms by Asser; but we learn from a 
work, called the "Miroir des Justices," (originally written 
in Norman-French by Andrew Home, in the reign of 
Edward II., and translated into English in 1646,) that per- 
version of justice met with no connivance from this inflex- 
ibly upright king. " He hanged Cadwine, because he con- 
demned Hachwy to death, without the assent of all the 
jurors, in a case where he put himself upon the jury of 
twelve men ; and because Cadwine removed three who 
wished to save him against the nine, for three others into 
whose jury this Hachwy did not put himself." 

" He hanged Markes because he adjudged During to 
death by twelve men not sworn." 

" He hanged Freberne, because he adjudged Harpin to 
death when the jurors were in doubt about their verdict; 
for when in doubt, we ought rather to save than condemn." 

In all, the author of the " Miroir des Justices," has 
recorded forty-four cases of punishment, more or less severe, 
which Alfred inflicted on those who had perverted the inte- 
grity of the judgment-seat. 

Could Alfred return, after a lapse of a thousand years, 
upon our earth, and behold his simple and mild laws changed 
and confused, their administration misled, and so many 
abuses from the tools of their execution — the attorneys — 
would he find hemp enough in England to punish them ? 

32. Abuse of the Confessions of and suspicion on, 
a Culprit 
Haller departs here from the point of the general German 
country laws, founded upon the ancient Roman laws ; ac- 
cording to which, the accused was forced to confess his 
crime; and it was seldom a culprit suffered capital punish- 
ment without previously making such a confession. This 
was sometimes wrung from him by torture; but even after 
the torture was abolished, the same system of justice was 



BOOK III. 219 

mostly adopted. A hardened criminal has often endea- 
voured to escape the insidious question by obstinate denial; 
therefore the judge could not condemn him without a well- 
proved evidence, and that real, clear, and beyond doubt; 
but not such as is sometimes called evidence in England, 
where the general accuser collects five or six probabilities, 
or other suspicions, and pronounces them a full and incon- 
testable evidence, so that the audience, who ought to be con- 
vinced, as well as the jury, of the innocence or guilt of the 
accused, are not aware, five minutes before the verdict is 
given, whether he will be declared guilty or not guilty. 

33. Alfred's absolute Power. 
When we consider the different occupations with which 
the busy mind of Alfred was continually engrossed, the 
question naturally occurs, how he could find time for 
accomplishing so many things. It may be admitted, that 
he possessed external advantages which had fallen to the lot 
of none of his predecessors, but these advantages were all of 
his own acquirement, and therefore, so far from explaining, 
they rather add to the credit of his achievements. As he 
prevailed in a war, which had destroyed all the other king- 
doms of the heptarchy, there were no surviving rights of 
any one, against whom he could be a trespasser. And, as 
there is no authority more complete than that which fol- 
lows conquest by the sword, so Alfred, having wrested the 
land which he ruled out of the hands of an enemy, found his 
authority unbounded, except by the limits of the island itself; 
and the tenure by which he held it was, in fact, the law of 
his own will. He was, consequently, not only greater than 
any of his predecessors, but possessed absolute power, if he 
thought proper to use it. If, however, he was checked by a 
sense of what was due to his subjects, and modified his own 
authority by enacting wise and equal laws, it is a subject for 
panegyric, and leaves his fame brighter than it otherwise 
would have been ; for such a mode of administering the 
kingly authority, so far from enslaving Alfred, made him 
more truly powerful, and gave him the good will of his 
people, which was the ablest instrument he could employ for 
the accomplishment of his great and useful ends. 

34. Catholic Liturgy read in Latin. 
Now, after a thousand years, the Liturgy of the Catho- 
lic service is still read in Latin; and if the gothic building 
of the church, with the sound of instruments and voices 
l2 



220 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC, 

elevate the soul, the manner in which the Liturgy is spoken 
paralyzes the effect ; and the mere babbling of words, not 
understood by the congregation, reduces it to a mere form. 

35. Alfred's Co-adjutors in Instruction. 

Of the difficulties which lay in Alfred's path, when he 
at last saw peace restored, and the opportunity which he had 
so long desired at last offered, for improving the people 
whom he was called upon to govern, the isolated position, 
in which he stood, was by far the most formidable. Since 
the death of his brothers, he stood alone in the world, and 
was removed as far above his subjects in the qualities of the 
mind, as by the regal authority which he held. When he 
was a boy, he could not find teachers to direct his own 
studies, and now that he possessed the power to promote the 
reforms which he meditated, and to improve the social and 
political condition of his subjects, he had difficulty in finding 
persons to co-operate with him in this laudable work. This 
was his first endeavour, which he took every opportunity 
of promoting, " To procure," as Asser tells us, " coadjutors 
in his good designs, to aid him in his strivings after wisdom, 
that he might attain to what he aimed at ; and therefore, 
like a prudent bird, which, rising in summer with the early 
morning from her beloved nest, steers her rapid flight 
through the uncertain tracks of aether, and descends on the 
manifold and various flowers of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, 
essaying that which pleases most, that she may bear it to 
her home ; so did he direct his eyes afar, and seek without 
that which he had not within, namely, in his own 
kingdom." 

It was from Mercia, principally, that Alfred obtained the 
assistance which he sought. "As some encouragement to 
his benevolent intentions," continues the biographer, " God, 
listening to his complaint, sent certain lights to illuminate 
him, namely, Werfrith, Bishop of the church of Worcester, 
a man well versed in the Divine Scriptures, who, by the 
king's command, first turned the books of the dialogues of 
Pope Gregory, and Peter, his disciple, from Latin into 
Saxon; and, sometimes, putting sense for sense, interpreted 
them with clearness and elegance. After him was Pleg- 
mund, a Mercian by birth, Archbishop of the Church of 
Canterbury, a venerable man, and endowed with wisdom ; 
with whom came Ethelstan and Werwolf, his priests and 
chaplains, Mercians by birth, and men of erudition. These 
four had been invited out of Mercia by King Alfred, who 



BOOK III. 221 

exalted them with many honours and powers in the king- 
dom of the West- Saxons, besides the privileges which Arch- 
bishop Plegmund and Bishop Werfrith enjoyed in Mercia. 
By their teaching and wisdom the king's desires increased 
unceasingly, and were daily gratified. Night and day, 
whenever he had leisure, he commanded such men as these 
to read books to him : for he never suffered himself to be 
without one of them, wherefore he possessed a knowledge of 
every book, though of himself he could not yet understand 
anything of books, for he had not yet learned to read. 1 ' 

But it would seem that Mercia could not supply a suffi- 
cient number of ecclesiastics and teachers to gratify the 
"commendable avarice" of the king; the continent of Europe 
was searched to increase the number ; " he sent messengers 
to procure teachers out of Gaul, and invited from thence 
Grimbald, priest and monk, a venerable man, and a good 
singer, adorned with every kind of ecclesiastical discipline 
and good morals, and most learned in Holy Scripture. He 
also obtained from thence John, also a priest and monk, a 
man of most energetic talents, learned in all kinds of literary 
science, and skilled in many other arts. By the teaching of 
these men the king's mind was greatly enlarged, and he, in 
return, gave them much riches, and honoured them with 
much influence." The ecclesiastics, whom Alfred thus in- 
vited from abroad, were men who had obtained a high repu- 
tation for learning in their own country. John of Corvey, 
in Old Saxony, was the priest and monk so famous both in 
literature and science, and Grimbald was Provost of St. 
Omer's, in France. To procure the grant of his services 
from his ecclesiastical superior, Fulk, Archbishop of Rheims, 
without whose consent he could not leave France, Alfred 
despatched an embassy, consisting of several bishops and 
others, ecclesiastics and laymen. The ambassadors bore 
with them large presents for the archbishop, and pledged 
themselves in their master's name, that Grimbald should be 
well received and highly honoured in England as long as he 
lived. Fulk, the archbishop, wrote back a letter to Alfred, 
in which he signified his assent to the king's request, though 
the loss of the eminent scholar would give much pain to 
himself. 

Asser was a native of Wales, or, as he calls it, Western 

Britain, and was now invited by the king to take up his 

residence in Saxony.* Accordingly, he traversed the many 

intervening provinces which lay in his road, and, under the 

* Vide note, p. 237. 



222 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

guidance of some Saxons, who had no doubt been sent to 
escort him, he came into Sussex, and first saw the king at 
the royal villa of Dene. His reception by Alfred, and the 
sequel of their interview, shall be told in Asser's own words. 

" He received me with kindness, and, among other familiar 
conversation, he asked me eagerly to devote myself to his 
service and become his friend, to leave everything I pos- 
sessed on the left or western bank of the Severn, and he 
promised to give me more than an equivalent for it in his 
own dominions. I replied, that I could not incautiously and 
rashly promise such things ; for it seemed to me unjust, that 
I should leave those sacred places in which I had been bred, 
educated, crowned,* and at last ordained, for the sake of any 
earthly honour and power, unless I was compelled to do so. 
Upon which he said, ' If you cannot accede to this, at least 
let me have your service in part : spend six months of the 
year with me here, and the other six in Britain.' To this I 
replied, that I could not even promise that too easily or 
hastily, without the advice of my friends. At length, how- 
ever, when I perceived that he was anxious for my services, 
though I knew not why, I promised him that, if my life was 
spared, I would return to him after six months, with such a 
reply as should be agreeable to him, as well as advantageous 
to me and mine. With this answer he was satisfied, and, 
when I had given him a pledge to return at the appointed 
time, on the fourth day we left him, and returned on horse- 
back towards our own country." 

Asser tells afterwards that a violent fever seized him . 
he made the before-mentioned arrangements, stating in his 
biography : — " I did as I had promised to the king, and 
devoted myself to his service, on the condition that I should 
remain with him six months in every year, either continu- 
ously, if I should find it possible to spend six months with 
him at once ; or alternately, three months in Britain, and 
three in Saxony." 

Asser further says that he saw Alfred after his sickness : 
" I was honourably received by him, and remained that time 
with him at court eight months ; during which I read to 
him whatever books he liked, and such as he had at hand ; 
for this is his most usual custom, night and day, in the midst 
of his many other occupations of mind and body, either him- 
self to read books, or to listen whilst others read them. And 
when I frequently asked his leave to depart, and could in no 
way obtain it, at length, when I had made up my mind by 
* Received the monastic tonsure. 



book in. 223 

all means to demand it, he called me to him at twilight on 
Christmas eve, and gave me two letters, in which was a long 
list of all the things which were in two monasteries, called, 
in the Saxon tongue, Ambresbury and Banwell; and on 
that same day he delivered to me those two monasteries, 
with all the things that were in them, and a silken pall of 
great value, and a load for a strong man of incense ; adding 
these words, that he did not give me these trifling presents, 
because he was unwilling hereafter to give me greater ; for 
in the course of time he unexpectedly gave me Exeter, with 
all the diocese which belonged to him in Saxony, and in 
Cornwall, besides gifts every day, without number, in every 
kind of worldly wealth, which it would be too long to enu- 
merate here, lest they should make my readers tired. But 
let no one suppose that I have mentioned these presents in 
thisij place for the sake of glory or flattery, or that I may 
obtain greater honour, I call God to witness that I have 
not done so; but that I might certify to those who are ig- 
norant of it, how profuse the king is in giving. He then 
immediately gave me permission to ride to those two rich 
monasteries, and afterwards to return to my own country." 
Besides the eminent scholars whose attendance on Alfred 
is confirmed by the testimony of Asser, we are told that the 
celebrated John Erigena, the Scot or Irishman, came with 
the rest to adorn the court of Alfred. This John had " long 
since," writes William of Malmesbury, " from the continued 
tumult of war around him, retired into France to Charles 
the Bald, at whose request he had translated the Hierarchia 
of Dionysius the Areopagite, word for word, out of the 
Greek into Latin. He composed a book also, which he 
entitled, 'On the Division of Nature,' an extremely useful 
work for solving certain perplexing but necessary questions, 
if we only pardon his having deviated a little in some things 
from the doctrines of the Latins, out of too great attention 
to the Greeks." 

36. Pretended Tyranny and Faults of Alfred. 
An ancient Life of Saint Neot, a kinsman of Alfred, 
exists in Saxon, which alludes, though vaguely, to some 
impropriety in the king's conduct. It says, that Neot chided 
him with many words, and spoke to him prophetically : — 
"O king, much shalt thou suffer in this life; hereafter so 
much distress thou shalt abide, that no man's tongue may 
say it all. Now, loved child, hear me if thou wilt, and turn 
thy heart to my counsel : depart entirely from thine un- 



224 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

righteousness, and thy sins with alms redeem, and with tears 
abolish." 

Another ancient MS. Life of St. Neot is somewhat stronger 
in its expressions of reproach. It states, " that Neot, re- 
proving his bad actions, commanded him to amend ; that 
Alfred, not having wholly followed the rule of reigning 
justly, pursued the way of depravity: that one day when 
the king came, Neot sharply reproached him for the wicked- 
ness of his tyranny, and the proud austerity of his govern- 
ment." It declares that Neot foresaw and fortold his mis- 
fortunes. " Why do you glory in your misconduct ? Why 
are you powerful but in iniquity ? you have been exalted, 
but you shall not continue ; you shall be bruised like the 
ears of wheat. Where then will be your pride ? If that is 
not yet excluded from you, it soon shall be. You shall be 
deprived of that very sovereignty, of whose vain splendour 
you are so extravagantly arrogant." 

It is in full conformity with these lines of Neot, that 
those others written by Ramsay in the twelfth century 
expresses also depravities of Alfred. The life composed in 
prose states, that Neot chided him severely for his iniquitous 
conduct. " You shall be deprived of that kingdom in which 
you are swelling ; in which you are so violently exercising 
an immoderate tyranny. But, if you withdraw yourself 
from your cruel vices and inordinate passions, you shall find 
mercy." 

The same author's biography, in Latin verse, reproaches 
the king's conduct as " dissolute, cruel, proud, and severe." 
It adds, that the king promised to correct himself, but did 
not ; but only added to his misdeeds, and became worse ; 
that Neot again reproved him for " wandering in depraved 
manners, 7 and announced his impending calamities. 

The same ideas are repeated in the fourteenth century by 
Matthew of Westminster, in his history, in phrases like those 
of Ramsay ; and John of Tinmouth, about the same period, 
reiterates the charge in the language of the Claudius MS. 
Another writer of a Chronicle, Wallingford, asserts " that 
Alfred, in the beginning of his reign, indulged in luxury 
and vice; and that the amendment of his conduct was^a 
consequence of his adversity." 

Our love for truth compelled us not to omit the preced- 
ing quotation from St. Neot, on the tyranny and faults of 
Alfred. The assertions against the character of Alfred were 
intemperance, voluptuousness, and tyranny. These faults 
are not completely denied, even by Asser, who expresses 



book in. 225 

himself on the occasion of the sudden downfal of the king, 
when Guthrum, Osketel, and Amund poured their impetu- 
ous troops into Wessex, in January 878. " The Almighty 
not only granted to the same glorious king victories over 
his enemies, but also permitted him to be harassed by them, 
to be sunk down by adversities, and depressed by the low 
estate of his followers, to the end that he might learn that 
there is one Lord of all things, to whom every knee doth 
bend, and in whose hand are the hearts of kings ; who puts 
down the mighty from their seat, and exalteth the humble ; 
who suffers his servants, when they are elevated and at the 
summit of prosperity, to be touched by the rod of adversity, 
that in their humility they may not despair of God's mercy, 
nor in their prosperity boast of their honours, but may also 
know, to whom they owe all the things which they possess. 

" "We may believe that the calamity was brought upon the 
king aforesaid, because, in the beginning of his reign, when 
he was a youth, and influenced by youthful feelings, he 
would not listen to the petitions which his subjects made to 
him for help in their necessities, or for relief from those who 
oppressed them ; but he repulsed them from him, and paid 
no heed to their requests. This particular gave much an- 
noyance to the holy man, St. Neot, who was his relation, and 
often foretold to him, in the spirit of prophecy, that he would 
suffer great adversity on this account ; but Alfred neither 
attended to the reproof of the man of God, nor listened to 
his true prediction. Wherefore, seeing that a man's sins 
must be corrected either in this world or the next, the true 
and righteous Judge was willing that his sin should not go 
unpunished in this world, to the end that He might spare 
him in the world to come. From this cause, therefore, the 
aforesaid Alfred often fell into such great misery, that some- 
times none of his subjects knew where he was, or what had 
become of him." 

37. Controversies concerning Oxford University. 
Historians do not agree in their assertions as to whe- 
ther a university, or public seminary of learning, existed in 
the days of Alfred, because Asi-er attaches the word "school" 
to these institutions ; and a violent controversy once dis- 
tracted the literary world concerning the sense in which the 
word was to be understood, and whether it was not the 
beginning or origin of a learned institution still existing. 
Asser speaks of the schools wherein the sons of the nobility 
were brought up, like Alfred's sons, in the royal household; 
l3 



226 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

and some learned men adduced these expressions of Asser as 
militating against the notion that a university, or seminary 
of public learning, existed in the days of Alfred. Though it 
is most probable that the several monasteries, and other, 
societies of monks and churchmen, would employ a portion 
of their idle time in teaching youth, and prosecuting their 
own studies; yet there is no proof that an authorized seat of 
learning, such as the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, 
existed in England until many hundred years after the time 
of Alfred. Yet an attempt was made in the sixteenth 
century to prove, on the one side, that Cambridge had been 
founded by Sigebert, King of East-Anglia: and on the 
other, that the University of Oxford was in full operation in 
the time of Alfred, who himself went thither to settle one of 
the religious and literary controversies, which have so often 
disturbed its tranquillity. 

Our space will not allow us to follow the antiquarians in 
this learned dispute, Ave therefore refer our readers to Dr. 
Giles' work, already mentioned. 

38. Vide Note 9. 

39. Alfred's Military Skill 

The system of military defence which Alfred had devised 
during the interval of peace was now fully tested and its 
utility developed. The strong position which he had taken up 
separated the two bodies of the Danes, and prevented their 
acting in concert. The citizens, also, of the different towns 
no longer fell an easy prey to those who attacked them, but 
took measures in their own defence, and even ventured to 
pursue their aggressors. The wisdom of the king's arrange- 
ment, by which his army was divided into two parts, so as 
to relieve one another, now became apparent. Besides the 
garrisons of the towns, an effective army was always in the 
field, and the others who, at the end of six months, were to 
succeed them, were in the meantime occupied in cultivating 
their lands at home. The Danes' forces, we learn, " did not 
venture out of their camps with their whole force more than 
twice ; once when they first came to land, before Alfred's 
forces were assembled ; and a second time, when they at- 
tempted to leave their stations" 

40. Sovereignty of the Seas. 

The " Sovereignty of the Seas, " a purpose pursued 
since Alfred's time by all British rulers, has perhaps con- 



book in. 227 

tributed considerably towards the actual grandeur of Great 
Britain ; but at the same time it has led to many bloody wars; 
and when we consider the law of nations, England has no 
more right to the dominion of the seas than any other nation 
on the surface of the globe, or than a conqueror who invades 
another country, like the Danes in England. To the pre- 
sent century was destined the glory of returning to more 
moderate principles, and of willingly giving up a portion of 
the usurped rights for her own welfare, as well a-s that of 
other nations, whereby England will doubtless nourish more 
than by the old system adopted for so many centuries, 
when she was constantly at war with all other maritime 
powers, for which a sufficient pretence was found in the least 
imaginary umbrage given to England's " Sovereignty of the 
Seas." 

41. Alfred's Artistical and Professional Co-adjutors. 
We have already mentioned, in Note 35, the names of 
eminent ecclesiastics whom Alfred invited to his court, and 
who assisted him in the execution of his great purposes of 
instructing others as future teachers for his institutions. But 
none of the names of those artists or professional men, whom 
Alfred likewise invited to his shores, have come down to us. 
It has, however, been amply proved that he was the most 
skilful artist of his time, having, according to Spelman, made 
himself the royal crown. We may accordingly presume 
him to have been equally versed in other arts. 

41a. Alfred's Officers. 
The names of several of Alfred's officers have been 
recorded ; some of them having obtained distinctions, like 
Odun, Alderman of Devonshire, for their victories over the 
enemy. The division of the kingdom into counties, for 
military purposes, begins more fully to display itself: thus 
we read of Ethelelm, the Earl or Alderman of Wiltshire ; 
Bertwolf, Duke or Earl (for the titles have the same mean- 
ing) of Essex; Edwolf, the king's minister, in Sussex; Earl 
Ceolmund, in Kent; Edred, Duke of Devonshire, probably 
successor to the brave Odun, and several others. 

42. Parliament in Alfred's time. 

We find -no exact indication of those institutions in 

any of the various works on Alfred and his times; our 

readers must therefore be satisfied with Haller's authority. 

That there was a parliament in Alfred's time, wherein the 



228 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

people were admitted, is partly proved by Littleton, and 
again contested by others, whose opinion on the subject we 
will notice in a future page. 

43. Alfred's severity. 

All authors agree upon Alfred's wisdom, and his skill 
as a ruler ; but if Haller speaks of " Moderate Monarchy," 
it seems to us that such an expression is only applicable to 
the principles developed in the dialogue between Alfred and 
his Counsellor, given in the Fifth Book. Alfred was the 
most absolute monarch that ever sat on England's throne, 
of which, the condemnation to death of fourty-four judges 
in one year, is a sufficient proof. The difference between 
such acts and those of Nero is, that the latter acted thus to 
oppress the people, and gratify his own improper desires ; 
while Alfred did it for the good of his people, and in a time 
when such severe means were absolutely necessary. In the 
" Miroir des Justices," already mentioned in p. 2 18, the author 
quotes rolls in the time of King Alfred, and among many 
other inflictions of the king's love of justice, he mentions 
several executions, which appear to have been both sum- 
mary and arbitrary, and, according to our present notions, 
cruelly severe. It is true, that the minds and habits of every 
part of society were hi those times so violent, that our esti- 
mation of the propriety of these judicial severities cannot 
now be accurately just. But yet, even with this recollection, 
the capital punishments, with which Alfred is stated to have 
visited judicial errors, corruptions, incapacity, dishonesty, 
and violence, which are recorded in the Miroir, strike our 
moral feeling as coming within the expressions of the " immo- 
derate tyranny," which he is said to have first exhibited. 

That Alfred should desire the improvement of his people, 
was the natural result of his own improving mind. But, if 
he at first attempted to effect this by violence, and to pre- 
cipitate, by pitiless exertions of power, that melioration 
which time and adapted education, laws, example, and in- 
stitutions, only could produce, he acted with as much real 
tyranny as if he had shed their blood from the common 
passions of ordinary despots ; but his motives must not be 
confounded with theirs : he meant well, though he may have 
acted in this respect injudiciously. Yet no motive can make 
crime not criminal. However men may palter with the 
question to serve temporary purposes, no end justifies bad 
means. Cruelty and violence are always evils, and tend to 
produce greater ones than those they are intended to cor- 



BOOK IV. 229 

rect. We may therefore understand from the examples men- 
tioned bj Home, that even Alfred's better purposes, thus 
executed, may have attached to the beginning of his reign the 
charges of tyranny and cruelty, and may have produced the 
temporary aversion of his people. They could not appreciate 
his great objects. They saw what they hated. They probably 
misconceived, for a time, his real character , and by their 
alienation may have contributed to amend it. Virtue, with- 
out intending it, will often act viciously from ignorance, 
prejudice, wrong advice, or undue alarm. Wisdom must 
unite with virtue to keep it from wrong conduct or deterio- 
ration; but true wisdom arises from the best human and 
divine tuition, and the gradual concurrence of experience. 
Alfred possessed these in the latter part of his life, but in its 
earlier periods he had not attained them. 

44. Prerogatives of Earls. 
Of this we find no authority in any of the modern or 
contemporary works on Alfred. 



BOOK IV. 



45. City of London Rebuilt. 
"In 886," according to Asser, "after the burning of cities 
and the slaughter of his people, he honourably rebuilt the 
City of London, and made it again habitable. He gave it 
into the custody of his son-in-law, Ethelred, Earl of Mercia; 
for all the Angles and Saxons, who had before been dis- 
persed everywhere, or were in captivity with the Pagans, 
voluntarily turned and submitted to his dominion." 

46. Reluctance of the Saxons to build Castles. 
"I will say nothing," relates Asser, "of the castles, which 
he ordered to be built, but which, being begun late, were 
never finished, because the hostile troops broke in upon 
them by land and sea, and, as often happened, these thwart- 
ers of the royal ordinances repented when it was too late, 
and blushed at their non-perforinance of his commands. I 
speak of repentance when it was. too late, on the testimony 
of Scripture, whereby numberless persons have had cause 
for too much sorrow after many insidious evils had been 
wrought. But, though by those means, sad to say, they 
may be roused to sorrow, and bitterly afflicted by the loss 
of fathers, wives, children, ministers, servant-men, servant- 
maids, and furniture and househould-stufF, what is the use 



230 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

of hateful repentance when their kinsmen are dead, and they 
cannot aid or redeem those who are captive from captivity ? 
for they are not able even to assist those who have escaped, 
as they have not wherewith to sustain even their own lives. 
They repented, therefore, when it was too late, and grieved 
at their incautious neglect of the king's commands, and they 
praised the royal wisdom with one voice, and tried with all 
their power to fulfil what they had before refused, namely, 
concerning the erection of castles, and other things useful to 
the whole kingdom." 

But, whilst the king's ministers neglected to fulfil their 
master's commands, and preferred, with true Saxon blood, 
to face their enemies in an open field of battle, rather than 
retire for safety behind the walls of a fortress, the king him- 
self zealously discharged such of these duties which came 
under his own immediate care, and restored the towns 
and cities, that were dilapidated, to more than their former 
condition. 

Spelman seems to have thought that Alfred was the first 

construct buildings of hewn stones. 

47. Foundation of Monasteries. 
Alfred had ordered that two monasteries should be built, 
one for monks at Athelney, a place surrounded by im- 

Eassable marshes and rivers, where no one could enter but 
y boats, or by a bridge laboriously constructed between 
two other heights ; at the western end of which bridge was 
erected a strong tower, of beautiful work, by the king's com- 
mand; and in this monastery he collected monks of all kinds, 
from every quarter, and placed them therein. 

The other monastery, a residence for nuns, was built near 
the eastern gate of Shaftesbury ; and his daughter, Ethel- 
giva, was placed in it as abbess. With her many other noble 
ladies, bound by the rules of the monastic life, dwelt -in that 
monastery. These two edifices were enriched by the king 
with much land, as well as personal property. 

Besides the monasteries of Athelney and Shaftesbury, it 
appears that Alfred built another religious house at Win- 
chester, called the " New Minster." Though we find no- 
thing about its foundation in the earlier Chronicles, yet, as 
Winchester was the principal city of Wessex, and the place 
where the king held his court, it may be supposed that no 
pains or expense were spared to construct it with becoming 
magnificence. As the foundation of this monastery was only 
commenced a short time before the death of Alfred, it is 



BOOK III. 231 

described by the historian, William of Malmesbury, as 
having been designed, rather than built, by this king. It 
was placed so near the Cathedral, or Old Minster of Win- 
chester, that the services which were chaunted in the choir 
of the one could be easily heard by the singing-men who 
were officiating in the other ; and King Edward is said to 
have paid a mark of gold to the bishop for every foot of 
land that he purchased, in order to have sufficient ground 
for the offices and out-buildings of the monastery. The 
inconveniences of this great proximity were soon felt by the 
inhabitants of both those religious nouses, and before the 
time of Malmesbury the building was destroyed, and the 
materials removed to the outside of the city, where was 
built the abbey of Hyde, of which King Alfred has, in con- 
sequence, often been described as the founder. 

It has been often vaguely stated by different writers, that 
Alfred was not only a benefactor to monasteries in general, 
but also built many new ones : those, however, which we 
have mentioned are the only ones which can, on good and 
positive authority, be ascribed to him, though he in a variety 
of ways made large and valuable gifts to various other 
religious houses. 

48. Revenues of the Church. 

We will, in a future page, enumerate the gifts of Alfred 
to the church and monasteries, upon speaking of the divi- 
sion of his fortune (see Note 56.) Haller's remark upon 
the wealth of priests is but too well founded, since the whole 
of Europe, and even a portion of the new world, have suf- 
fered from their abuses. Even in modern times, and towards 
the end of the last century, in civilized France, the church 
having five millions of revenue from tithes, with nearly half the 
land of the kingdom besides, assigned only £20 a year to 
the parochial working clergy, while all the rest Avas a prey 
to the vices of a sinecure and dissolute hierarchy. The 
landed property in that country was so unequally divided, 
that one-third of it only was in the hands of the lay common- 
ality, the churches and the nobles possessing all the rest. 

In regard of the revenue of the Church of England, 
compared to that of all other Christian churches, we have a 
document before us, proving that the clergy of the latter, 
consisting of 203,728,000 hearers, receive £9,949,000 ; and 
the clergy of England and Wales, consisting of 6,500,000 
hearers, receive £9,459,565, being nearly as much as the 
expenses of the whole Christianity in all parts of the world. 



232 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

49. Architectural Works of Alfred. 
" In his own palaces," says Asser, " farms, and country 
seats, of which he had a large number, the king set a lau- 
dable example to his neglected earls and thanes ; his archi- 
tectural taste was lavishly displayed in the restorations and 
new creations, which his genius called forth in that depart- 
ment. These works were doubtlessly well known to his 
contemporaries, but the details of them have perished, or 
have never been written. The greatest works of man fall 
into obscurity, and become utterly unknown, when those 
who saw them with their own eyes, and were dazzled by 
their brilliancy, have omitted to record those facts, which 
alone can preserve the memory of them to posterity. What 
shall I say," continues Asser, " of the cities and towns which 
he restored, and of others which he built where none had 
been before ? of the royal halls and chambers, wonderfully 
erected, by his command, with stone and wood ? of his royal 
vills constructed of stone, removed from their old sites, and 
handsomely rebuilt, by the king's command, in more fitting 
places?" These palaces are enumerated in a future note, 
containing a translation of King Alfred's will. 

50. Division of the King's Household. 
The king's household was at all times arranged in three 
classes. His attendants were most wisely distributed into 
three companies, so that the first company should be on duty 
at court for one month, night and day, at the end of which 
time they returned to their homes, and were relieved by the 
second company. At the end of the second month, the 
third company, in the same way, relieved the second, who 
also returned to their homes, where they spent two months, 
until their services were again wanted. The third company 
gave place to the first in the same manner, and also spent 
two months at home. Such was the threefold division 
of the companies arranged at all times in the royal house- 

Spelman expresses himself on this subject as follows: — 
"I should conjecture that the king, for his more honour- 
able attendance, took this course in point of royalty and 
state, there being (as it then stood with the state) very few 
men of quality fit to stand before a king, who by their for- 
tunes or dependency were not otherwhere besides engaged; 
neither was there in those times any great assurance to be 
had of any man, unless he was one of such condition, whose 
service, when the kins: was fain to use one month in the 



BOOK IV. 233 

quarter, it was necessary for the commonwealth, that he 
should remit them the other two months unto their own 
occasions. Neither used he this course with some of his 
officers only, (as there are those that understand it to have 
been a course taken only with those of his guard,) but with 
all his whole attendance ; neither used he it for a time only, 
but for his whole life, as Ingulfus expressly tells us ; and I 
little doubt but that the use at court at this day, of officers 
and quarter-waiters, had the first beginning even from this 
invention of the king's." 

51. Vide Note 24. 

52. Alfred's skill in Jewellery, and description of his Gem. 
The art of working in gold and silver was a favourite 
subject for the king's taste and patronage. A beautiful 
specimen of workmanship occurs in his jewel, which has 
already been mentioned; and if we are to understand 
literally his biographer's assertion, that the king himself 
taught the artist to execute such works as this, it consider- 
ably augments our respect for the master-mind, which not 
only entered upon so many different callings, but succeeded 
so completely in them all. The working in gold and silver 
must however be interpreted to comprehend a vast extent 
of art and science. The mere manufacture of a bracelet, or 
any other ornament of the person, will hardly describe the 
full operation of this art; the inlaying and setting of pre- 
cious stones, enamelling in all its branches, and the decora- 
tive branches of carving and gilding, may all be included in 
the name, and the introduction or improvement of these 
elegant embellishments to the residences of the king and his 
nobles, must have not only improved the taste, but have 
added to the comforts of his countrymen. 

"I know not," says Spelman, "why we may not con- 
jecture, that the king (being by the return of his East- 
Indian ship stored with many eastern stones, and by 
his especial industry upon that occasion provided also of 
workmen) probably fell upon the composing of an imperial 
crown, which, though not of the form, that by way of dis- 
tinction we at this day call imperial, yet it was of a more 
august and imperial form than had been formerly of use in 
this kingdom. For in the arched room in the cloisters of 
Westminster Abbey, where the ancient regalia of this king- 
dom are kept, upon a box, (which is the cabinet to the 
ancientest crown,) there is (as I am informed) an inscription 



234 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

to this purpose : Hcec est principalior corona cum qua coro- 
nabantur reges JElfredus, JEdwardus, Sfc. And the crown 
(which to this purpose were worth the observing) is of a 
very ancient work, with flowers adorned with stones of some- 
what a plain setting. This by the inscription appearing to 
have been made by him, and that when he was become uni- 
versal king of the Heptarchy ; in which respect, and for the 
value of the jewels, (then and long after very rare in these 
parts,) as also for the venerable esteem which (for the 
original and author) succeeding ages have ever had of it, it 
seems deservedly to be accounted the most principal crown." 

The gem formerly worn by King Alfred, and now pre- 
served in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, is made of pure 
gold, containing coloured stones, cased in a remarkably thick 
crystal, in perfect preservation, and only looks a little dull 
and dingy, for the great length of time that has passed over 
it. The length of the gem is about two inches, and it is 
about half an inch thick. Round the edge are engraved the 
words Alfred mec heht gewyrcan, {Alfred had me worked) 
in pierced gold letters. The narrow end of the gem, at 
which the first and last words of this inscription meet, is 
formed into the head of a griffin, the national emblem of the 
Saxons, having in its mouth a strong gold rivet, to which a 
chain was doubtlessly attached ; and its flat form indicates 
that it must have been worn on the breast dependent from 
the chain that passed round the neck, in a way similar to 
ornaments which are still worn by kings and queens on state 
occasions. 

The back of the gem is quite flat, and ornamented with 
a flower, wrought in gold, without stones. 

The front or principal face of the relic is smaller than the 
back, in consequence of the edge sloping inwards a little all 
round, so that the words engraved on it do not stand up- 
right, a contrivance probably adopted for the purpose of 
giving more effect to the front of the jewel, and making it 
stand out in stronger relief. The back-ground is composed 
of a blue stone, on which appears a human figure clothed in 
the green Saxon military vest or tunic, and girt with a belt, 
from which a strap for a sword depends towards the left side. 
The figure is seated on the throne, with a cyne-helm or crown 
on its head, and on either hand he holds a sceptre, branching 
out over the shoulders into fleurs de lis. 

Learned men differ in their opinion : some of them pre- 
tend that the figure in the gem was a type of Alfred as 
king; and others assert that it represents Jesus Christ, or St. 



BOOK III. 235 

Cuthbert, patron of King Alfred, who assisted him in dis- 
tress ; but the opinion of the Rev. Dr. Silver, of St. John's 
College, Oxford, formerly Anglo-Saxon Professor, seems to 
have the preponderance. According to his view, the figure 
was an image of the king himself, and symbolical of his 
kingly office ; and the two sceptres designate the spiritual 
and temporal authority which were united in the king's 
hands. 

53. Political Levers of Rulers. 

We perceive that King Alfred employed one of the first 
levers of rulers to attain his purposes; and to acquire the 
services of others, without making any real sacrifice, farther 
than flattering their ambition. The other lever also used by 
princes for the same purpose, (and at an equally little 
expense,) and which Philip II. and other tyrants so effec- 
tively practiced, is fear — a means which Alfred did not 
neglect, but which, be it said to his glory, he did not, like so 
many of his descendants and other sovereigns, abuse. 

That Alfred knighted his grandson is not astonishing, 
since the nearest relations of monarchs are always the first 
distinguished by that dignity. History informs us that 
queens and empresses generally knighted their favourites ; 
but of the most distinguished men, not one was ever proud 
enough to refuse that distinction, even from the hands of a 
woman. 

54. Universal Geni, and Manual Occupations of Princes. 

Nature very seldom produces geni capable of successfully 
practising so many different avocations ; but as we possess 
sufficient examples in ancient and modern history, and 
especially in Michael Angelo, Goethe, Frederick the Great, 
Napoleon, &c. of men who cultivated many different sciences, 
and naturally excelled in some more than in others, we 
cannot wonder that Alfred was likewise gifted with those 
qualities. What is, however, most to be admired, and what 
we seldom find united in such universal geni, is the tranquil- 
lity of mind that such a man must have possessed, to occupy 
himself so extensively and regularly with those different 
branches of arts and sciences ; and practise them under the 
very clash of weapons, and amidst the troubles and desola- 
tion spread by constant warfare. 

The custom that every sovereign should practice one 
manual occupation, has been preserved in some countries 
until the end of the last century; the higher sense of that 



236 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

custom being probably, that they should not forget that they 
descend from the people ; forming a striking contrast with 
the usurped expression, that they obtain their power from 
the grace of God. 

55. Alfred's Zeal for Religion. 

We must remind the reader that Haller was • a philoso- 
pher, and lived in the time of Voltaire, Rousseau, &c. ; and 
that the Atheism which reigned on the continent of Europe 
at that epoch, can alone excuse his expression. 

Alfred's zeal for religion is described as follows by Dr. 
Giles:— 

"For the last hundred and fifty years preceding the reign 
of Alfred, and following the death of Venerable Bede, a 
great change, and not for the better, had been gradually 
passing over the Anglo-Saxon mind. In literature an<J 
religion, which in those days were inseparably united, the 
zeal which was kindled in the time of Venerable Bede, and 
fostered by his own bright example, had long waxed cold ; 
no name of importance occurs during that long period; and 
when Alfred came to the throne, it was not the least pressing 
of the arduous duties that devolved on him, to raise his sub- 
jects from the inglorious apathy into which they had fallen 
on all that regarded their intellectual and moral culture." It 
was for this object above all others that Alfred had gathered 
from every side those pious and learned churchmen, whose 
names and virtues have been already enumerated. 

56. Division of Alfred's Revenues. 
He assigned the first half of his revenue to worldly pur- 
poses, and ordered that one-third of this half should be paid 
to his soldiers and his ministers, the nobles who resided at 
his court, where they discharged various duties : for the 
king's household was at all times arranged in three classes. 
To these attendants was paid : — the first of the three portions 
aforesaid, to each according to their respective dignities and 
peculiar service; the second was for the payment of the 
operatives, whom he had collected out of every nation, and 
kept about him in large numbers, men skilled in every kind 
of construction ; the third portion was assigned to foreigners, 
who came to him out of every nation far and near ; whether 
they asked money of him or not, he cheerfully gave to each 
with a wonderful munificence in proportion to their respec- 
tive merits, according to what is written, " God loveth a 
cheerful giver." 



book iv. 237 

But the second part of all the revenues, which came yearly 
into his possession, and was included in the receipts of his 
exchequer, he, with ready devotion, gave to God, ordering his 
ministers to divide it again into four parts, stipulating 
that the first of these parts should be bestowed on the poor 
of every nation who came to him; and on this subject he 
said, that as far as human discretion could guarantee, the 
remark of Pope Gregory should be followed: "Give not 
much to whom you should give little, nor little to whom 
much, nor something to whom nothing is due, nor nothing 
to whom something." The second of the four portions was 
given to the two monasteries, which he had built,* and to 
those who therein had dedicated themselves to God's ser- 
vice, as we have mentioned above. The third portion was 
assigned to the school, which he had studiously collected 
together, consisting of many of the nobility of his own na- 
tion. The fourth portion was for the use of all the neigh- 
bouring monasteries in all Saxony and Mercia ;f and also 
during some years, in turn, to the churches and servants of 
God, dwelling in Britain, Cornwall, Gaul, Armorica, North- 
umberland, and sometimes even in Ireland, according to his 
means, he either distributed to them beforehand, or pro- 
posed to do so afterwards, if life and prosperity should not 
fail him. 

57. Division of Alfred's Time. 
With equal exactitude Alfred apportioned his own time 
between his spiritual and temporal duties ; but his biogra- 
pher has not been equally minute in describing this parti- 
cular, as in the division of his income. We will notice in 
the next note the expedient of wax lights and lanterns, 
to which the king had recourse for ascertaining the lapse of 
time. Asser informs us that he dedicated half his service to 
the world and half to God; but William of Malmesbury 
says, with more minuteness, that he employed " eight hours 
in writing, reading, and prayer ; eight in the refreshment of 
his body; and eight in despatching the business of the 
realm." This regularity of system must have been of the 
greatest service to the king, and have enabled him to ac- 
complish much more than he otherwise could have done ; 
and it set an example to his subjects, of the utmost import - 

* Athclney and Shaftesbury. 

+ Saxony now became the general name for Wessex, Kent, and Sussex 
combined. Mercia is added, because it was considered no longer a separate 
kingdom. 



238 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

ance to a nation, which was saved from destruction, that it 
might become a monument to posterity of the greatness of 
their king. 

58. Invention of Lanterns. 
There are so many different facts in Alfred's history 
which make impressions upon the mind, from their poetical 
aspect, that it is not surprising that his history is and ever 
will be popular, from his flight, his disguise, the history of 
the cakes, (whether fictious or not,) his entry into the Danish 
camp as a minstrel, his architectural knowledge, his skill in 
jewellery, and even from the presumed invention of lan- 
terns. Of the latter Asser speaks as follows : — " After long 
reflection on these things, he at length, by a useful and 
shrewd invention, commanded his chaplains to provide wax 
in a sufficient quantity ; and he caused it to be weighed in 
such a manner, that when there was so much of it in the 
scale as would equal the weight of seventy-two pence, he 
caused his chaplains to make six candles out of it, each 01 
equal length, so that each candle might have twelve divi- 
sions marked longitudinally upon it. By this plan, there- 
fore, those six candles burned for twenty-four hours, a 
night and a day exactly, before the sacred relics of many of 
God's elect, which always accompanied him wherever he 
went : but sometimes, when they would not continue burn- 
ing a whole day and night, till the same hour that they 
were lighted the preceding evening, owing to the violence 
of the wind, which blew day and night, without intermission, 
through the doors and windows of the churches, the fissures 
of the partitions, the plankings, or of the wall, and the thin 
canvass of the tents, they then unavoidably burnt out and 
finished their course before the appointed time ; the king 
therefore considered by what means he could shut out the 
wind, and so, by an useful and cunning invention, he 
ordered a lantern to be beautifully constructed of wood and 
white ox-horn, which, when skilfully planed till it is thin, is 
no less transparent than a vessel of glass. This lantern, 
therefore, was wonderfully made of wood and horn, as we 
before said, and by night a candle was put into it, which 
shone as brightly without as within, and was not extin- 
guished by the wind ; for the opening of the lantern was 
also closed up, according to the king's command, by a door 
made of horn. By this contrivance, then, six candles, 
lighted in succession, lasted four and twenty hours, neither 



book in. 239 

more nor less, and when these were extinguished, others 
were lighted in their places." 

In the above description of Asser, he says, "no less trans- 
parent than a vessel of glass." Can Asser have employed 
that expression ? And was glass used in Alfred's time ? 
And if so, wherefore wanted he lanterns of horn when he 
could use glass ? The fear of straw, or any other com- 
bustible matter catching fire, (wherefore horn is now used in 
stables, &c.,) cannot have existed in palaces. There was 
accordingly no need of using it if glass could be had. 

59. Alfred's Illness. 
With respect to Alfred's illness, which began at the time 
of his marriage, Asser expresses himself as follows : — " His 
nuptials were honourably celebrated in Mercia, among in- 
numerable multitudes of people of both sexes ; and after 
continual feasts, both by night and by day, he was im- 
mediately seized, in presence of all the people, by sudden 
and overwhelming pain, as yet unknown to all the physi- 
cians ; for it was unknown to all who were then present, and 
even to those who daily see him up to the present time — 
which, sad to say ! is the worst of all, that he should have 
protracted it so long from the twentieth to the fortieth year 
of his life, and even more than that through the space of so 
many years — from what cause so great a malady arose. For 
many thought that this was occasioned by the favour and 
fascination of the people who surrounded him ; others, by 
some spite of the devil, who is ever jealous of the good; 
others, from an unusual kind of fever. He had this sort of 
severe disease from his childhood ; but once, divine Provi- 
dence so ordered it, that when he was on a visit to Cornwall 
for the sake of hunting, and had turned out of the road to 
pray in a certain chapel, in which rests the body of St. 
Guerir,* and now also St. Neot rests there — for King Alfred 
was always from his infancy a frequent visitor of holy places 
for the sake of prayer and almsgiving — he prostrated himself 
for private devotion, and, after some time spent therein, he 
entreated of God's mercy, that in his boundless clemency he 
would exchange the torments of the malady which then 
afflicted him for some other lighter disease ; but with this 
condition, that such disease should not show itself outwardly 
in his body, lest he should be an object of contempt, and less 
able to benefit mankind ; for he had great dread of leprosy 

* St. Guerir's Church was at Ham Stoke, in Cornwall. 



240 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

or blindness, or any such complaint, as makes men useless 
or contemptible when it afflicts them. When he had finished 
his prayers, he proceeded on his journey, and hot long after 
he felt within him that by the hand of the Almighty he was 
healed, according to his request, of his disorder, and that it 
was entirely eradicated, although he had first had even this 
complaint in the flower of his youth, by his devout and pious 
prayers and supplications to Almighty God. For if I may 
be allowed to speak briefly, but in a somewhat preposterous 
order, of his zealous piety to God, in the flower of his youth, 
before he entered the marriage state, he wished to strengthen 
his mind in the observance of God's commandments, for he 
perceived that he could with difficulty abstain from gratify- 
ing his carnal desires ; and, because he feared the anger of 
God if he should do anything contrary to his will, he used 
often to rise in the morning at the cock-crow, and go to pray 
in the churches and at the relics of the saints. There he 
prostrated himself on the ground, and prayed that God in 
his mercy would strengthen his mind still more in his service 
by some infirmity such as he might bear, but not such as 
would render him imbecile and contemptible in his worldly 
duties ; and when he had often prayed with much devotion 
to this effect, after an interval of some time, Providence 
vouchsafed to afflict him with the above-named disease, 
which he bore long and painfully for many years, and even 
despaired of life, until he entirely got rid of it by his prayer; 
but, sad to say ! it was replaced, as we have said, at his 
marriage by another which incessantly tormented him, night 
and day, from the twentieth to the forty-fourth year of his 
life. But if ever, by God's mercy, he was relieved from 
this infirmity for a single day or night, yet the fear and 
dread of that dreadful malady never left him, but rendered 
him almost useless, as he thought, for every duty, whether 
human or divine." 

Dr. Giles speaks on the same subject as follows: — "It is 
generally believed, on the authority of Asser, who was 
Alfred's bishop, biographer, and friend, that our great king 
suffered much, through the whole of his life, from some 
internal disease, the nature of which was unknown to the 
physicians of his time. To inquire into the nature of this 
complaint seems useless, because science alone could explain 
it to us, and at that time the medical science, perhaps, was 
at its lowest ebb : and it is more consistent with the dignity 
of a name, that has always borne on it a halo of reverence 
in the eyes of mankind, to touch with a gentle hand the 



BOOK IV. 241 

infirmities from which even the body of the great Alfred was 
not exempted by his Creator. Yet such was the vigour 
of Alfred's mind, such the submission of his body to the 
control of his powerful intellect and will, that the malady, 
from which he suffered, seems never, after its first access, 
to have gained dominion over him, or to have displayed 
itself in public. On the contrary, his energy of mind was, 
if possible, sharpened by the warnings of his bodily tor- 
mentor. Nor does his disease seem to have affected even 
the vigour of his body. An invalid can with difficulty go 
through the hardships of an ordinary campaign in war. But 
what did not Alfred encounter during the many years that 
he upheld, first by the side of his brave brother, and after- 
wards alone, the tottering condition of the West- Saxon 
monarchy ? We have traced his reign, as minutely as our 
authorities will permit, through seven years, and three 
Danish invasions, each more formidable than the preceding. 
Twice the wave of conquest was thrown back from the rock 
on which it beat ; and though at its third flow that rock was 
submerged by the increasing mass of waters which assailed 
it, yet Alfred still floated above the tide, and served as a 
buoy on which the eyes of his people were fixed, that thev 
might regain their footing, and repel the hostile inunda- 
tion." 

There is a legend which informs us that he was cured of 
his infirmity by Modwen, a female saint in Ireland, whose 
virtues at this time excited the wonder of the world, and 
augmented the wealth and influence of the Church. But it 
is scarcely doubted that Alfred never was in Ireland : avc 
road of no such connection between the sister islands in his 
time, as had existed in a previous generation. If Ireland 
ever was distinguished for learning in very early times, it 
had again become unknown to the rest of the world, until it 
was annexed to the English crown by Henry II., and cer- 
tainly furnished no temptation to the royal family of Ethel- 
wolf to visit it for any purpose of either religion, learning, 
or science. 

60. Alfred's Education. 

All authors agree that Alfred's education did not com- 
mence until he was about twelve years old; and Asser speaks 
of it as follows: — " He was loved by his father and mother, 
and even by the people generally, above all his brothers, and 
was educated altogether at the court of the king. As he 
advanced through the years of infancy and youth, Vis form 

M 



242 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

appeared more comely than that of his brothers ; in look, in 
speech, and in manners, he was more graceful than they. 
His noble nature implanted in him from his cradle a love of 
wisdom above all things, but — with shame be it spoken — by 
the unworthy neglect of his parents and nurses, he remained 
illiterate even till he was twelve years old or more ; but he 
listened with serious attention to the Saxon poems which he 
often heard recited, and easily retained them in his docile 
memory. He was a zealous follower of the chase in all its 
branches, and hunted with great assiduity and success ; for 
skill and good fortune in this art, as in all others, are among 
the gifts of God, as we have often also witnessed. 

" Now, on a certain day, his mother was showing him and 
his brothers a Saxon book of poetry, which she held in her 
hand, and said, L Whichever of you shall the soonest learn 
this volume, shall have it for his own.' Stimulated by these 
words, or rather by the divine inspiration, and allured by 
the beautifully illuminated letter at the beginning of the 
volume, Alfred spoke before all his brothers, who, though 
his seniors in age, were not so in grace, and answered, 'Will 
you really give that book to one of us, that is to say, to him 
who can first understand and repeat it to you ?' At this his 
mother smiled with satisfaction, and confirmed what she had 
before said : upon which, the boy took the book out of her 
hand, and went to his master and read it to him, and in due 
time brought it to his mother, and recited it." 

Historians vary as to whether the early education of 
Alfred was conducted by his real mother, Osburga, or by 
his step-mother, Judith ; but it is proved that the princess 
Judith retired in 861 to her father's court in France, where 
she soon married Baldwin II. surnamed Bras-de-fer, Count of 
Flanders. The preceptress of Alfred must therefore have 
been his own mother, Osburga, living in retirement, but 
engaged in training the mind of her young child for the 
high duties which he was afterwards to fulfil. 

Alfred's biographer, Asser, further says : — " He learned 
the daily course, that is, the celebration of the Hours ;* and 
afterwards certain psalms and prayers, contained in a book, 
which he kept day and night in his bosom, as we ourselves 
have seen, and carried about with him to assist his prayers, 
amid all the bustle and business of this present life. But, 
sad to say, he could not gratify his most ardent wish to learn 
the liberal arts, because, as he remarked, there were no 

* The services of the church, which belonged to the different divisions of 
the day and night. 



BOOK IV. 243 

good readers* at that time in all the kingdom of the West- 
Saxons." 

" By the liberal arts," says Dr. Giles, " were implied 
grammar, music, geometry, and the other sciences, which 
were at that time to be learnt through the medium of the 
Latin tongue only ; for, by the universal sovereignty of 
Rome, the vernacular languages of the conquered nations, 
however they may have retained their place as the idiom of 
the people at large, were in every case superseded by the 
Latin as the language of the court, and of polite literature. 
Afterwards, also, when the whole of Europe was ruled no 
longer by the sword of the baron, but by the crozier of the 
bishop, the same slavery of the mind was continued ; nor. 
after the lapse of so many centuries, has it entirely been 
removed, in any country of the civilized world. The Anglo- 
Saxons, even in the age of Alfred, and indeed earlier, as 
might be easily shown, if this were the place for the discus- 
sion, speedily began to emancipate themselves from the 
trammels of a foreign language, and they aspired, as the 
numerous MSS. still existing fully prove, to the honours 
of a national literature, in their own dialect, and conse- 
quently accessible to all. But learning, like liberty, is a 
plant of slow growth, and does not easily become rooted in 
a new soil : and by the storms which assailed the young- 
shoot, in the age of Dunstan, and afterwards at the time of 
the Xorman conquest, the Anglo-Saxon literature was 
stifled even before it had time to acquire maturity. But, 
when Alfred began first to turn his thoughts towards learn- 
ing, the level even of Latin literature was so low, that the 
young prince hardly knew where to find a teacher in all his 
brother's dominions. The first impulse, which had been 
given to Latin literature among the Anglo-Saxons by the 
arrival of Archbishop Theodore, Abbot Hadrian, and the 
scholars who accompanied them in the seventh century, had 
been of short duration in proportion to the rapidity of its 
growth. The most celebrated scholar, who sprung from the 
seed thus planted in England, was the Venerable Bede ; 
whose works comprehend almost every branch of the learn- 
ing of his time. But that which is confined to the cloister 
never can be popular, nor can those writings which are con- 
signed to the keeping of a foreign tongue, ever be under- 
stood by the great mass of the people. We have, therefore, 

* Lectores, literally readers, probably in this passage designate? teachers, 
professors, or, as they would have been afterwards termed, and are still 
called, at our Universities, Prtetectores. 
M 2 



244 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

no proof that the school of Theodore produced any sensible 
effect, such as a vernacular literature always produces, in 
softening the manners or even in enlarging the comprehen- 
sion of those whom he came to enlighten. In the next 
generation learning fled from Britain as rapidly as she had 
come. The court of Charlemagne was now her favoured 
resting-place. Thither resorted Alcuin and Dungal, the 
former from England, the latter out of Scotland or Ireland ; 
Fridugisus, and a host of ecclesiastics, whilst our own island 
for many years produced nothing but a tame retinue of 
monks, whose missals, penitentials, and rituals of every kind, 
still remain to convince us how unproductive was a soil 
which had given promise to become so fruitful. 

" When we consider that Alfred had reached his twelfth 
year before he could even read, it appears surprising that 
he should ever have become a follower of literature at all. 
Yet the love of book-learning was so deeply rooted in the 
mind of Alfred, that it could not be eradicated, even by the 
violence of the scenes in which so many years of his inter- 
mediate life were passed. We may conceive the delight 
with which the king, in 880, at last relieved from his perse- 
vering enemies the Danes, hailed the opportunity, which 
peace would bring, for indulging in study, and encouraging 
his people by his example to do the same. But the ver- 
nacular literature of the Anglo-Saxons, consisting princi- 
pally of poems or ballads, was the only portion of learning 
which as yet was open to the king. He began to learn to 
read at the age of twelve, but his attempts were still for 
many years confined to a very narrow field of operations. 
The main part of learning was contained in the foreign idiom 
of the Latin tongue, and even the ecclesiastics, in Alfred's 
time had almost entirely forgotten the language in which 
they were required to perform all their services, and where 
all their knowledge was to be gathered." 

61. Alfred's Boohs. 

In 887, when Alfred was thirty years old, he began to 
read the Latin language, and to apply it to the interpreta- 
tion of the Scriptures. The following are Asser's own 
words on the subject : — 

"In the same year (877) Alfred, king of the Anglo- 
Saxons, began, by divine inspiration, on one and the same 
day, to read and to interpret ; but that I may explain this 
more fully to those who are ignorant, I will relate the long 
delay in beginning. 



BOOK IV. 245 

" On a certain day we were both of us sitting in the king's 
chamber, talking on all kinds of subjects, as usual, and it 
happened that I read to him a quotation out of a certain 
book. He listened to it with the utmost attention, and 
addressed me with a thoughtful mind, showing me at the 
same moment a book which he carried in his bosom, wherein 
the daily courses, and psalms, and prayers, which he had 
read in his youth, were written, and he commanded me to 
write the same quotation in that book. Hearing this, and 
perceiving his ingenious benevolence, and devout desire of 
studying the word of divine wisdom, I gave, though in se- 
cret, boundless thanks to Almighty God, who had implanted 
such a love of wisdom in the king's heart. But I could not 
find any empty space in that book, wherein to write the 
quotation, for it was already full of various matters ; where- 
fore I made a little delay, principally that I might stir up 
the mind of the king to a higher acquaintance with the 
divine testimonies. Upon his urging me to make haste and 
write it quickly, I said to him, ' Are you willing that I 
should write that quotation upon some leaf apart ? For it 
is not certain whether we shall not find one or more other 
such extracts which will please you ; and if that should so 
happen, we shall be glad that we have kept them apart.' 
' Your plan is good,' said he ; and I gladly made haste to 
get ready a sheet, in the beginning of which I wrote what 
he bade me ; and on that same day I wrote therein, as I had 
anticipated, no less than three other quotations which pleased 
him; and from that time we daily talked together, and 
found out other quotations which equally pleased him, so 
that the sheet became full, and deservedly so ; according as 
it is written : 'The just man builds upon a moderate foun- 
dation, and gradually passes to greater things.' Thus, like 
a productive bee, he flew here and there, asking questions 
as he went, until he had eagerly and unceasingly collected 
many various flowers of the divine Scriptures, with which 
he thickly stored the cells of his mind. 

" Now, when that first quotation was copied, he was 
eager at once to read and to interpret in Saxon, and then to 
teach others ; even as we read of that happy robber, who 
recognised his Lord, yea, the Lord of all mankind, as he was 
hanging on the blessed cross, and saluting him with his 
bodily eyes only, because elsewhere he was pierced all over 
with nails, cried, ' Lord, remember me when thou comest 
into thy kingdom ;' for it was only at the end of his life that 
he began to learn the rudiments of the Christian faith. 



246 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

"It was at the sacred solemnity of St. Martin, [Nov. 11], 
that the king, inspired by God, began to study the rudi- 
ments of divine Scripture, and he continued to learn the 
flowers collected by certain masters, and to reduce them 
into the form of one book, to the best of his ability, though 
they were mixed one with another, until the book became 
almost as large as a psalter. This book he called his " En- 
chiridion, Handbook, or Manual," because he carefully 
kept it at hand, day and night, and found, as he told me, no 
small consolation therein." 

The first Latin work that arrested the attention of Alfred 
was, the " Pastoral Care " of Pope Gregory. The transla- 
tion of this book was entrusted to Bishop Werefrith, one of 
the ecclesiastics whom Alfred had invited to his court, but 
the preface was written by Alfred himself: it is addressed 
in the form of a letter to Wulfsig, and is a noble specimen 
of plain and simple thoughts, coming from the anxious 
breast of a patriot king, and endeavouring to find their way 
to the hearts of his people. 

Another book which was much valued throughout Europe 
in the time of Alfred, was the work of Boethius on the 
" Consolations of Philosophy." Its writer, like Alfred, had 
been suddenly transferred from prosperity and success to 
abasement and misfortune. In the prison, to which the 
capricious tyranny of Theodoric, King of the Goths, con- 
signed him, he possibly drew that consolation from philo- 
sophy, which he has embodied in the precepts of his 
delightful little treatise. Alfred, aware perhaps of the 
sudden vicissitudes and early death of the author, included 
the volume on the " Consolation of Philosophy " among the 
works which might instruct his own subjects. The object 
of the treatise is to show the vanity of riches, power, dignity, 
and pleasure, and their inability to confer happiness on 
their possessor. The construction of the work is singular, 
being partly in prose and partly in verse. There can be no 
doubt that the Anglo-Saxon translation of it is due to King 
Alfred : Ethelwerd, Malmesbury, and others, attest the fact, 
and the Saxon preface which is prefixed to the work states 
that " Alfred king was the translator of this book, and from 
book-Latin turned it into English, as it is now done." Two 
manuscripts of this work still exist, supposed to have been 
written soon after, if not during the reign of Alfred, from a 
collation of which the work has been printed within the last 
few years, accompanied with an English translation. In 
one of these manuscripts the metrical part of the original is 



BOOK IV. 247 

rendered into Saxon prose ; in the other the verses are 
translated in Anglo-Saxon metre. 

In rendering this interesting moral treatise accessible to 
his own subjects, Alfred has by no means shown himself as 
a mere translator or copyist. His version is rather a para- 
phrase than a translation, and in many parts, where the king's 
feelings seem to have been more particularly in harmony 
with his subject, whole sentences are introduced into the 
work not to be found in the Latin original of Boethius. 

The next work which claims our notice is Alfred's trans- 
lation of " Orosius," and is of considerably greater value than 
either of the preceding. In executing this work, the king 
has allowed himself even greater latitude than in his version 
of Boethius. Some parts of the original he has amplified ; 
others he has compressed ; and others again he has omitted 
altogether. To compensate, however, for these omissions, 
he has inserted several new chapters altogether, two of 
which have attracted considerable notice : they contain a 
description of the principal tribes of Germany in his own 
time, and an account of the voyages of Othar towards 
the north, and of Wulfstan to the Baltic, which were 
achieved in Alfred's own time, and possibly by his command. 
These and other minor insertions amount to several pages, 
and show that Alfred took pleasure in the study of geo- 
graphy, of which also they show that he possessed a sur- 
prising knowledge, if we consider the darkness of the age in 
which he lived, and the distraction occasioned to his mind 
by the number and variety of his studies. 

The voyages of Othar, or Oththere, towards the north, and 
those of Wulfsan to the Baltic, are described in the sixth 
book of this work, translated by Haller, who pretends not 
to have taken it from Othar's own description. 

The fourth work of Alfred, and perhaps the most useful 
of all to his subjects, was a translation of " Bede's Ecclesi- 
astical History of the English Nation." This was an ines- 
timable gift to those of his countrymen who could read it, 
as it invested that great national work with what alone it 
wanted, namely, that it should be written in the language of 
the country of whose early annals it treated. The trans- 
lation was executed on the same principles which guided the 
king in his other works, and is of very great use as a 
commentary on the original text of Bede. There are 
several manuscripts of it in existence, and the work has 
been twice printed, both times as an accompaniment to the 
Latin original. 



248 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

Besides these great works, a variety of shorter writings 
and tracts have been ascribed to King Alfred. Some of 
these have perished by time : others are still preserved in 
our public libraries, and have perhaps not yet received that 
minute attention which they demand. 

William of Malmesbury says, that Alfred began to trans- 
late the Psalms of David, but died before it was finished. 

Florence of Worcester also tells us, that Alfred translated 
the Bible or Testament into Anglo-Saxon, but this state- 
ment has met with no confirmation ; and we may doubt 
whether Alfred's labours in this way extended further than 
to the compilation of his "Enchiridion, Hand-book, or 
Manual," of which Asser speaks in the passage we have 
before quoted. 

There is an Anglo-Saxon manuscript in the Cottonian 
Library, containing some flowers or extracts gathered out of 
" St. Augustine's Soliloquies." At the end of these flowers is 
a sentence left imperfect by the abrupt termination of the 
MS. " Here end the sayings that King Alfred selected from 
those books which we call ." . 

In the Harleian Library also is a collection of Fables in 
Anglo-Norman verse. The authoress of this work was 
Marie, who lived in the thirteenth century. She says, at the 
end of the work, that Alfred had translated them from the 
Latin into English, i. e. Anglo-Saxon, from which she had 
turned them into French verse. Nothing more is known 
of the Fables which are thus ascribed to the king. 

It appears from a catalogue of the Christ Church Library, 
in 1315, that among its MSS. was one entitled, "Liber 
Alured Regis de Custodiendis Accipitribus." " This book," 
observes Mr. Turner, to whom we are indebted for these 
notices of Alfred's minor works, " corresponds with the 
fact mentioned by Asser, that Alfred was accustomed ' to 
teach his falconers, and hawkers, and hound- trainers.' " 

Mention is also made by ancient writers of the Proverbs 
and Parables of King Alfred. Something of this kind has 
heen preserved by Sir John Spelman, from a Cottonian MS. 
which has been burnt since his time, and is no longer legible. 
As the precepts which have been preserved are curious and 
instructive, the following paragraph with which Spelman in- 
troduces them to the notice of his readers, is worthy of our 
attention : — 

" There is in that well-known library, now Sir Thomas 
Cotton's, a manuscript collection of diverse precepts and 
instructions of King Alfred's, tending to the purpose we now 



BOOK IV. 249 

speak of; and by the courtesy of Sir Thomas I am provided 
with a copy of them. But, as they are, I cannot think it fit 
to offer them unto the world as an instance of what the king 
composed. For they are not his very work in the Saxon 
tongue, but a miscellaneous collection of some later author, 
who, according to his own faculty, hath, in a broken English, 
put together such of the sayings of King iElfred, as he met 
withal, some of them rhyming, and others (as perhaps the 
original was) in prose : and besides that in their order they 
somewhat argue the collector's want of judgment. For 
marshalling them no better, the copy is so faulty and ill — 
written, in a mongrel hand, (as well as language,) as that, 
unless I should, without regard, venture to trespass the 
truth, I dare not publish it according to the copy I have 
taken. Therefore, whereas there are thirty-one heads of the 
sayings of the king, all beginning with these words, ' Thus 
quoth Alfred,' I take them not all, only the beginning of 
them, and three or four of the first also, (which are the per- 
fectest,) I have (to show the style and manner of them) set 
down, in the words that I have copied them, together with 
the current sense they have in speech at this day. For the 
residue I have taken such as I presume I read right and 
understand, and I have only set them down in English, 
noting them with figures, according to the number or place 
they hold among the rest. 

" The beginning of them is very much to be considered ; 
for that it importeth as if there were some assembly of the 
chief of both orders of the kingdom called together at 
Siffbrd (or Seaflbrd*) in Oxfordshire, and as if the king had 
there consulted with his clergy, nobles, and others, about 
the manners and government of the people, and had there 
delivered some grave admonitions and instructions concern- 
ing the same, to be (as one would think) divulged throughout; 
the kingdom. For its first mentioning the assembly, and 
commending the king, it saith, that he began to teach those 
that could hear him how they should lead their lives; and 
then setteth down those thirty-one heads as particulars of 
his teaching, confirming thereby that which we have already 
(from other authorities) alleged, concerning his care and 
travail for the instruction and reformation of his people." 

* This is a mistake of Sir John Spelnmn. The Anglo-Saxon name of 
Shiflford is Scifford, which is pronounced, as we still pronounce it, Shift.. n' 
and means the " shced-ford," not " sea-forl" It is in the parish of Bampton 



M 3 



250 NOTES 3 COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

62. Alfred's Embassies to Rome. 

Alfred, who, according to some writers, was not in favour 
at Rome, (a fact contradicted by his biographers,) sent 
annually embassies to Rome, and carried on an extensive 
correspondence. "We have seen and read letters," says 
Asser, " accompanied with presents, which were sent to him 
by Abel, the patriarch of Jerusalem ;" and the same writer 
speaks "of the daily embassies sent to him by foreign 
nations, from the Tyrrhenian sea to the farthest end of 
Ireland." Even this was not the limit of King Alfred's cor- 
respondence with foreign parts. In 883, the year when 
Pope Martin sent to him the piece of the holy cross, the 
king sent two of his nobles or ministers on a mission to the 
East Indies. These emissaries, stopping at Rome, deposited 
there the alms which the king had vowed, and then pro- 
ceeding on their voyage, conveyed to India a similar present 
for the apostles, St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew, who were 
supposed to have evangelized those countries. Such is the 
brief notice of this embassy in the Anglo-Saxon Chron- 
icle, which adds, that the king had made a vow to this 
effect, "when they sat down against the [Danish] army at 
London," and when, " thanks be to God, they largely 
obtained the object of their prayer after the vow." " Such 
a step," says the historian, Lappenberg, " on the part of a 
monarch of Alfred's character, will excite in us but little 
surprise, and even that little will be diminished, if we call to 
mind the pilgrimages that had long been usual to the pillar 
of Simeon Stylites, and many places regarded as holy, and 
every doubt obviated by the oriental gems brought back by 
his envoys, some of which were in existence after a lapse of 
centuries. The splendid colouring given by later historians 
to this mission, by making Sighelm bishop of Sherborne, and 
calling iEthelstan an alderman, has contributed to create 
doubts of its reality. Sighelm did not receive the bishopric of 
Sherborne till the death of Asser, twenty-seven years later." 

In the year 884, Pope Martin died, and was succeeded by 
Adrian III. It seems as if his communications with Alfred 
had ended in the more regular transmission of gifts to 
Rome. Thus in 887 we read in the Saxon Chronicle, 
" This year Alderman iEthelelm carried the alms of the 
West- Saxons and of King Alfred to Rome." The next 
also, i. e. in 888, Beocca, the alderman, carried the alms of 
the West- Saxons and of King Alfred to Rome." The fol- 
lowing year we read, "there was no journey to Rome, 
except that King Alfred sent two couriers with letters :" 



BOOK IV. 251 

but in 890 the mission is again mentioned: "This year," 
says the Chronicle, " Abbat Bernhelm carried the alms of 
the West- Saxons and of King Alfred to Rome." 

Sir John Spelman has remarked, " that when we consider 
the estimation in which King Alfred was held, even at 
Rome itself, it appears remarkable that, after his death, his 
memory was passed over without his receiving the honours 
and title of a saint; yet if the church of Rome had 
borne the same good will towards him that they have 
done towards others, as, for instance, towards the obscure 
Edmund his contemporary, King of East-Anglia, it would 
not have been a hard task for them to have detected in 
the manifold incidents of his life, as good a ground for 
conferring on him canonization, as they have had for many 
whom the popes and cardinals have sainted. The very 
opening of Alfred's life was remarkable, though we have 
lost the exact particulars ; and a future pope might have 
with propriety adjudged the honours which he had to 
bestow on Alfred, if not for the benefits which he brought 
to mankind, yet as a confirmation of the mysterious cere- 
mony of unction, which he had received from one of that 
pope's predecessors. When, also, the king sat in the 
desolate island, and his affairs seemed to be in a hopeless 
state, he was assured in a vision, as the monkish writers tell 
us, that he should again sit upon his throne. Even the 
malady with which he was bound, partakes of the same won- 
derful character, and might be taken as a proof that Alfred 
was a chosen child, whom the Lord would correct with 
stripes in the flesh, that He might purify him for the 
posthumous honours of a saint. If more was wanting to 
prove his aptness for such honours, it might be added, that 
he had exemplified in his own practice the precept of the 
gospel, and had given half of his revenues to God, even 
whilst he still exercised the functions of a king. His whole 
life was one continued aspiration and struggle after what was 
good, impeded and kept back by the persecutions of a race 
of heathens, whose success would have overset the bark of 
St. Peter with its crew, the pope, and all his cardinals. It 
seems remarkable that no notice was taken of his career, 
by those who were so amply benefitted by his virtues ; and 
it cannot be superfluous to inquire why he was not canon- 
ized, in an age when this was the highest honour which the 
head of Christendom could bestow. 

" The king," continues Spelman, "walked with too much 
knowledge and understanding, and was not so easy to be led 



^252 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

by them as his father was ; and, though in spiritual matters 
he reverenced the pope (according to the doctrine of the 
times) as universal vicar, yet he understood not the infer- 
ences that were afterwards built upon that foundation, but 
exercised his regal authority absolutely, for which cause they 
seem to have declined striving with him, and therefore, 
though it had happened that all the bishoprics of West- Sax- 
ony, viz. Winchester, Cornwall, Sherborne, Wells, and Cridda, 
were for three whole years vacant, and only under the care 
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, until the time of the 
king's death ; yet we hear of no offence taken therefore at 
Rome ; but when after his death they continued as long- 
vacant in his son Edward's time, the first news of distaste 
that he heard thereof was a curse and an excommunica- 
tion." 

Dr. Giles observes hereupon, "that the Roman court 
never tolerated even learning or virtue itself, if it in any 
way opposed their own favourite opinions. It becomes, 
therefore, a matter of the greatest probability, that some of 
the reforms and ameliorations which Alfred introduced, 
especially as regards the numerous translations from the 
Latin into the Anglo-Saxon tongue, which were made by 
his command, would meet with coldness, if not censure, but 
certainly not with approbation, from the lips of the sove- 
reign pontiff. Many of these translations were, in their 
subjects, closely connected with the Scriptures, which the 
Romanists have never, but by compulsion, allowed to be 
communicated to the vulgar by means of versions in the 
vernacular tongue." 

A curious instance of correspondence occurs in Asser's 
Biography, under the year 884. " Pope Martin, of blessed 
memory, died this year ; it was he who, in regard for Alfred, 
King of the Anglo-Saxons, and at his request, freed the 
school of the Anglo-Saxons resident at Rome from all 
tribute and tax. He also sent many gifts on that occasion, 
and amongst others, a large piece of the holy and venerable 
cross, on which our Lord Jesus Christ was suspended for the 
good of mankind." 

" That a king," observes Dr. Giles, " of so enlightened a 
mind would attach little importance to the worthless bit 
of wood, which derived all its value from a falsehood, may 
be easily conceived ; but the exemption from tribute for the 
English school was a more substantial gift, and that it was 
granted at the king's urgent request, is in unison with e\nry 
other feature of his enlarged and thoughtful mind." 



BOOK IV. 253 

"As like Solon," says Lappenberg, "he ceased from, 
learning only when he ceased to live, so he anxiously pro- 
vided for the education of his children and his subjects." 

63. Education of Alfred's Children. 
" The sons and daughters," says Asser, " which he had 
by his wife were, Ethelfied the eldest, after whom came 
Edward, then Ethelgiva, then Ethelswitha, and Ethelwerd, 
besides those who died in their infancy, one of whom was 
Edmund. Ethelfied, when she arrived at a marriageable 
age, was united to Ethelred, Earl of Mercia; Ethelgiva 
was dedicated to God, and submitted to the rules of a mo- 
nastic life ; Ethelwerd, the youngest, by the divine counsels 
and admirable prudence of the king, was consigned to 
the schools of learning, where, with the children of almost 
all the nobility of the country, and many also who were not 
noble, he prospered under the diligent care of his teachers. 
Books in both languages, namely, in Latin and Saxon, were 
read in the school. They also learned to write ; so that, 
before they were of an age to practise manly arts, namely, 
hunting, and such other pursuits as befit noblemen, they 
became studious and clever in the liberal arts. Edward and 
Ethelswitha were bred up in the king's court, and received 
great attention from their servants and nurses ; nay, they 
continue to this day, with the love of all about them, and 
show affability, and even gentleness, towards all, both 
foreigners and natives, and are in complete subjection to 
their father ; nor, among their other studies which appertain 
to this life and are fit for noble youths, are they suffered to 
pass their time idly and unprofitably, without learning the 
liberal arts; for they have carefully learned the Psalms and 
Saxon books, especially the Saxon Poems, and are continu- 
ally in the habit of making use of books." The schools of 
learning, to which Asser alludes in this passage, as formed 
for the use of the king's children and the sons of his nobles, 
are again mentioned elsewhere by the same author, as "the 
school which he had studiously collected together, consisting 
of many of the nobility of his own nation;" and in a thirl 
passage, Asser speaks of the "sons of the nobility who were 
bred up in the royal household." It is clear, then from these 
expressions, that, the king's exertions to spread learning 
among his nobles, and to educate his own children, were of 
a most active and personal nature, unconnected with any 
institutions of a more public character: the school was kept 
in his own household, and not in a public seat of learning, 



254 NOTES, COMMMENTARIES, ETC. 

Alfred died, according to the historians, in 901. His 
military performances are summed up, according to John 
Hardyne, in the following verses (Chron. f. 108 b.) : — 

" And in the year viii C. lxxx and eighteen 

Then Alured this noble king so died : 
When he had reigned xxix year clean 

And with the Danes in battles multiplied 

He faughten often, as Colman notified 
In his Chronicle and in his Catalogue 
Entitled well, as in his dialogue. 
That fifty battailles and six he smote, 

Sometime the worse and sometime had the better, 
Sometime the field he had, as it is note, 

Sometime he fled away, as saith the letter, 

Like as Fortune his cause left unfeter. 
But nevertheless as oft when so they came, 
He countered them and kept the land from shame." 

Translation of King Alfred's Will. 

I. " I, Alfred King, with God's grace, and with counsel of 
^Ethered, a Archbishop, and all West- Saxon wise [menjs * 
witness, have thought about mine soul's health, and about 
mine inheritance, that me God and mine elders [ancestors] 
gave, and about that inheritance that Athulf, c king mine 
father us three brothers bequeathed, Athelbolde, and 
iEthered, and me ; and, which of us soever longest were, 
that he take to all. 

II. " But it happened that iEthelbold died ;<* and we two, 
iEthered [and I], e with all West- Saxon wise [menjs wit- 
ness, our share entrusted to iEthelbirhte king our relation, 
on the condition that he it returned to us as entire as it 
there was, when we two it to him entrusted, and he then so 
did, both that inheritance, and that he with our joint con- 
currence got, and that he self acquired. 

III. "When it so happened that Ethered succeeded, then 
bade [prayed] I him before our wise \_men~] all, that we two 

a. Ethelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 888. 

b. The words enclosed in brackets are supplied to make sense : the witan 
were the senate or parliament : witness means testimony or concurrence. 

c. Ethelwolf, father of Alfred, died Jan. 13th, 857-8, leaving four sons ; 
1.— Ethelbald; 2.— Ethelbert ; 3.— Ethered ; 4.— Alfred ; who were suc- 
cessively kings of England; and one daughter, Ethelswith, who, in 851, 
married Burrhed, King of Mercia, and after his death in 873, became a 
nun at Padua, where she died in 889. 

d. December 20th, 860. 

e. Omitted in original, but necessary to the sense. 



BOOK IV. 255 

that inheritance divide, and he me give mine share. Then 
said he me that he not easily nor might divide, for that he 
had full often ere [before] taken possession, and he quoth that 
which he of our joint concurrence enjoyed and [that which 
he] /acquired, after his days he to no man rather would give 
it than me, and I therewith then was well content. 

IV. " But it happened that we all of heathen folk spoiled 
were. Then spake we two about our bairns, that they some 
support would require from us of those estates, as to us was 
given. Then were we in meeting at Swinburg : then declared 
we two, in West- Saxon wise [men]'s witness, that which 
soever of us longest were, that he give other's bairns these 
lands that we two self got, and those lands that to us Athulf 
king gave in Athelbolde's life-time ; but [except] those that 
he us three brothers bequeathed. And of this, of us two 
either to other his pledge gave, whether of us longest lived, 
that he should take both to the land and to the treasures, 
and to all his possessions, but that part that of us either to 
his bairns bequeathed. 

V. " But it happened that iEthered king died when nor 
shewed to me no man no inheritance-writing, nor no witness, 
that it any other was but as we two of witness ere [before] 
declared. Then heard we now many inheritance-suits : now 
then led IAthulfs king's inheritance-writing into our meet- 
ing at Langdene, and it they read before all West- Saxon 
wisemen. When it read was, then bade I them all for mine 
love, (and them mine pledge bade, that I of them never to 
none would bear ill will for that they of right speak,) and 
that of them none would neglect, neither for mine love nor 
for mine fear, that they the folk-right declare, lest any man 
quoth [say] that I mine kinsfolk, either elder, either younger, 
with wrong exclude. And they then all for right declared 
and quothed [said] that they no righter right conceive might 
nor in the inheritance-writing hear of. 'Now it all delivered 
is there into thine hand : wherefore thou it bequeath and 
give as [well to] a relation as to a friend, whether to thee 
liefer be.' And they all me thereon their pledge gave, and 
their hand-setting, that by their life, no man never pervert 
in none other wise, but so as I it self should say at the 
next day. 

VI. "I, Alfred, West-Saxon King,£ with God's grace, and 

/. Omitted in original, but necessary to the sense. 

g. Alfred being king at the time he made his will, it must have been made 
between 871, when he came to the crown, and H*~>, in which Bishop Esne, 
one of the legatees therein mentioned, died. 



256 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

with this witness, declare how I about mine inheritance will 
after mine day. 

VII. " First, I give^ to Edward, mine elder son, the lands 
at Strsetneat,* in Triconshire,i and Heortigtune,* and the 
book-land all that Leof heah holds, and that land at Carum- 
tune/ and at Cilfantune,™ and at Burnhamme," and at Wed- 
mor,° and I am a claimant to the families at Ceodre/ that 
they him choose on the condition that we ere [formerly] 
expressed had; with the land at Ciwtune,? and that that 
thereto belongeth. And I him give the lands at Cantuc- 
tune/ and at Bedewind,* and at Pefessigge,' and Hysse- 
burn, K and at Suttune, and at Leodride, w and at Aweltune.^ 

VIII. " And all the book-lands that I in Cent have, and 
at the Nether-Hisseburn/ and at Ciseldene,^ give they to 
Wintanceastre, on the condition that it mine father ere 
gave, and that mine sundry fee [estate] that I Ecgulf gave 
in trust at the Nether-Hisseburn. 

IX. " And the younger mine son- that land at Eadering- 
tune," and at Dene, 6 and at Meone, c and at Ambresbury, d 
and at Deone, c and at Stureminster,/ and at Gifle,^ ancl at 
Cruasrn, A and at Whitchurch,* and at Axanmouth,i and at 

h. " I give — [the lands," &c] Alfred describes most of the estates which lie 
devises as "land," but in some places he uses the word "ham." 

*. Probably Stratton in Cornwall. 

j. Doubtlessly Cornwall. 

A-. Perhaps Hardington, in the County of Somerset. 

/. Carhampton, in the County of Somerset. 
m, Chilhampton, County of Wilts. 

n. Burnham, County of Somerset. 

o. Wedmore, County of Somerset. 

p. Cheddar, County of Somerset. 

q. Chewton, County of Somerset. 

r. Quantock, County of Somerset. 

s. Beduin, County of Wilts. 

t. Pewsey, County of Wilts. 

u. Hussebourne, County of Hants 

v. Probably Leatherhead, in Surrey. 

w. Most probably Aulton, in Wilts. 

x. Nether Hussebourne, in Hants ; which was afterwards given by Edward 
to the Cathedral at Winchester. 

y. Chiseldon, or Chistleton, in Wilts. 

%. Ethel ward. 

a. Adrington, County of Somerset. 

b. There are places of this name both in Hants and Wilts, as well as in 
many other counties. 

c. East and West-Meon, County of Hants. 

d. Ambresbury, County of Wilts. 

e. Down, County of Dorset, or Devon. 
/. Sturminster, County of Dorset. 

g. Gidley, County of Devon. 
k. Crewkerne, County of Somerset. 
i. Whitchurch, County of Hants. 
j. Axmouth. 



book iv. 257 

Branscescumbe,* and at Colunitune,* and at Twyford,™ and 
at Milenburn, w and at Exannrinster, and at Sutheswerthe, 
and at Liwtune^P and the lands that thereto belong, that are 
all that I in Weal-district have, except Triconshire. 
X. " And mine eldest daughter,? the ham at Welewe.*' 
XL " And the midmost 5 at Cleare/ and at Cendefer." 

XII. " And the youngest,** the ham at Welig,"' and at 
iEsctune,* and at Cippanhamme.^ 

XIII. " And iEthelrne,* mine brother's son, the ham at 
Ealdingburn, fl and at Cumtune,* and at Crundell, c and at 
Beading,^ and at Beadinghamme/ and at Burnham,/ and at 
Thunresfeld/f and at iEsceng.s 

XIV. " And Athelwolde, A mine brother's son, the ham at 
Godelming/ and at Gildeford,./ and at Staening.* 

XV. " And to Osferth my cousin, the ham at Beccanlea/ 
and Hritheranfeld,™ and at Dicceling, 7 * and at Suthtune, and 
at Lullingimnsteiy and at Angmaering,? and at Felh- 
hamme/ and the lands that thereto belong. 



k. I. Branscomb, and Collumpton, County of Devon. 

m. Twyford, County of Hants. 

n. Milbourn, County of Dorset or Somerset. 

o. Axminster, County of Devon. 

p. Litten, of which name there is one in Dorset, and one in Somerset. 

q. Ethelfled. 

r. Wellow, County of Hants. 

s. His " midmost " daughter was Ethelgiva, the nun. 

t. Kingsclere, County of Hants. 

u. Probably one of those places in Hampshire which still bear this addition 
to their name, viz. Preston Candever, Chilton Candever. 

v. His youngest daughter was Elfrida, who married Baldwin IT., Earl of 
Flanders, and dying on June the 7th, 929, was buried in the monastery of St. 
Peter at Ghent. 

w. Willey, County of Wilts. 

x. Ashton, County of Wilts. 

y. Chippenham, County of Wilts. 

z. .flSthelm, the eldest son of King Ethelbert, elder brother of Alfred. 

a. Aldingbourn, County of Sussex. 

b. Compton, County of Sussex. 

c. Crundal, County of Hants. 

d. Beden, County of Sussex. 

e. Bedingham, County of Sussex. 
/. Barnham, County of Sussex. 

//. The manor of Thunderfield, in the parish of Horsey, near Ryegate in 
Surrey, where was formerly a castle of considerable strength. 

g. Probably Eashing, in the parish of Godalming, in Surrey, the manor of 
which also belonged to Alfred. 

h. The youngest son of King Ethelbert, who died in arms against his 
cousin Edward, the son and successor of Alfred, in 905. 

i.J. Godalming and Guildford, both in Surrey. 

k. Steyning, in Sussex. 

/. m. n. Beckley, Kotherfield, and Dichling, all in Sussex. 

o. p. q. r. Sutton, Lullington, Angmering, and Felphame, all in Sussex. 



258 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

XVI. " And to Ealhswith/ the ham at Lamburn,' and at 
Waneting," and at Ethandune. 1 ' 

XVII. " And to mine two sons a thousand pounds, to 
each five hundred pounds. 

XVIII. " And to mine eldest daughter, and to the mid- 
most, and to the youngest, and to Ealhswithe, to them four, 
four hundred pounds, to each a hundred pounds. 

XIX. " And to mine aldermen,"' to each a hundred man- 
cuses,* and to JEthelin, and Athelwolde, and Osferthe, 
eke so. 

XX. " And to iEthered alderman a sword of a hundred 
mancuses. 

XXI " And to the men that me follow, that I now at 
Easter- tide fees gave, two hundred pounds : let them give 
to them, and divide them between, to each as to him to 
belong they shall judge; after the manner that I to them 
now have distributed. 

XXII. "And to the archbishop,^ a hundred mancuses, 
and to Esny z bishop, and to Werferthe a bishop, and to the 
[bishop] at Sherborne. 6 

XXIII. " Eke so let them distribute for me, and for mine 
father, and for the friends that he forethought for, and I 
forethink for, two hundred pounds ; fifty to the mass-priests 
over all mine kingdom, fifty to God's poor servants, fifty to 
the distressed poor ; fifty to the church that I at rest [rest 
at]. And I know not certainly whether fees [money] so 
much is, nor I know but that thereof more may be : but so 
I ween [think]. If it more be, be it to them all common 
that I fee [money] bequeathed have. And I will that my 
aldermen and my ministers there all together be, and this 
thus distribute. 

XXIV. " When had I ere [formerly] in other wise written 

s. Ethelswitha, the wife of Alfred, and daughter of Ethelred the Great, 
Earl of Mercia. She survived. 

t. u. Lamburn and Wantage, in Berks, at the latter of which places Alfred 
was born. 

v. Edingdon, near Westbury, in Wilts, where Alfred defeated the Danes 
in 878. 

w. The king's aldermen were his justices itinerant, and other great officers 
of his own appointment. 

x. Mr. Manning says, the " mancus was about 7s. 6d. of our present 
currency." 

y. Ethelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 888. 

z. Esne, Bishop of Hereford, who died, according to Godwin, in 885. 

a. Werweth was Bishop of Worcester, a man of singular learning, and 
employed by Alfred in translating the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I. into the 
Saxon language. 

b. The Bishop of Sherborne was Asser, the great friend and favourite of 
Alfred : he wrote the Annals of that monarch's reign down to the year 893. 



BOOK IV. 259 



relations, and had to many men the writings intrusted, and 
in [before] the same witnesses they were written. Then 
have I now burned those old [deeds'] that I recover might. 
If of these any found should be, let it stand for nothing : for 
that I will that it now thus be with God's help. 

XXV. " And I will the men that land have, the words 
to list that in mine father's inheritance-writing stand, so as 
they firmest [soonest] may. 

XXVI. " And I will, if I to any men any fee unpaid 
have, that mine relations that at least repay. 

XXVII. " And I will the men to whom I my book-land 
bequeathed have, that they it not give from mine kin, over 
[after] c their day, that it go unto the nighest-hand to me; 
unless of them any one bairns have ; then it is to me most 
eligible that it go that issue on the male side, the while that 
any of it worthy be. Mine elder father [grandfather] hath 
bequeathed his land to the spear-half, and not to the spindle- 
half.tf Wherefore if I have given to any female what he had 
acquired, then let redeem it my relations if they it while she 
is living have will : if it otherwise be, let it go after their 
day, so as we before determined have. For this reason I 
ordain that they it pay for, because they will succeed to my 
[estate] that I give may, or to female hand, or to male hand 
whether I will. 

XXVIII. " And I beseech in God's name, and in his 
saints', that of my relations none, nor of my heirs none, do 
obstruct none of the freedom of those that I have redeemed. 
And for me the West- Saxon nobles as lawful have pro- 
nounced that I them may leave either free either or bond 
whether I will. But I for God's love, and for my soul's 
advantage, will that they be of their freedom masters, and 
of their will, and I, in God the living's name intreat that 
them no man do not disturb, neither by money-exaction, nor 
by no manner of means, 6 that they may not choose such man 
as they will. 

XXIX. " And I will that they restore to the families at 
Domerham their land-deeds and their free liberty such 

c. The word "ofer " appears to have been omitted in the original. 

d. " Spere-healfe.. . . spinl-healfe." The sexes are here denominated from 
the implements peculiar to their respective occupations ; the male from the 
spear, the female from the spindle. 

e. Alfred having manumitted divers " theowas " and put them into the 
condition of " ceorles," desires that his heirs would not abridge them of that 
liberty, but leave them to choose such man for their landlord as they wished ; 
which all "ceorles," by the Saxon constitution, might do. 



260 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

person to choose, as to them most agreeable may be ; for 
me, and for Elfleda, and for the friends that she did inter- 
cede for, and I do intercede for. 

XXX. " And seek they also, with a living price, for my 
soul's health, as it be may, and as it also fitting is ; and as 
ye me to forgive shall be disposed." 

Translation of King Alfred's P?werbs, given at Shifford, 
a.d. 890. 

From an ancient Anglo-Saxon MS. formerly in the Cottonian Library, and 
quoted by Spelman in his Life of Alfred : but now supposed to be lost. 

At Shifford sat thanes many, 
Many bishops, and many book-learned [men]. 
Earls wise and knights awful. 
There was Earl Alfric, of the law so wise, 
And eke Alfred, England's herd['s-man], England's darling; 
In England he was king ; them he began [to] learn, 
So him they might hear, how they their life should lead. 

Alfred, he was in England a king well so strong. 
He was king and clerk : well he loved God's work. 
He was wise in his word, and wary in his speech. 
He was the wisest man that was in England. 

Thus quoth Alfred, England's darling : — 
" Would ye now live and long after your Lord ! 
And He would you [make to] know wise things, 
How you might world's worship obtain. 
And eke your souls unite to Christ ! " 
Wise were the quotations that said the King Alfred. 
" Mildly I mind you, my dear friend, poor 
And rich, loving, that ye all dread your 
Lord Christ, love Him and like, for He is 
Lord of life : he is one God over all goodness. 
He is one bliss over all blessedness. 
He is one man, mild master : He one folk's father [common 

father], 
And darling : He is one right wise and rich king, 
That him not shall fail naught of his will 
Who Him here in world worship and honour." 

Thus quoth Alfred, England's comfort. 
" He may no right king be under Christ's self, 
But [unless] he be book-learned, and wise of law, 
And he his writs well know, and he can 
Letters look himself, how he shall his land 
Lawfully hold." 



BOOK IV. 261 

Thus quoth Alfred, England's comfort : — 
" The earl and the atheling too be under the king, 
The land to lead with lawful deed ; 
Both the clerk and the knight with evenly right : 
For after that the man soweth, 
Thereafter he nioweth ; 
And every man's doom to his own door cometh." 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " The knight behoveth 
Cunningly to mow for to work the land 
Of hunger, and of death. 
That the church have grith [quiet], and the churl be in frith 

[freedom], 
His seeds to sow, his meads to mow, 
His ploughs to drive to our all behoof: 
This is the knight's law to look that it well fare." 

So far the translation is equivalent to the original, which 
may be found in Dr. Giles' " Life and Times of Alfred the 
Great." Of that which follows, Spelman has not given the 
original. 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " Without wisdom wealth is worth 
little. Though a man had a hundred and seventy acres 
sown with gold, and all grew like corn, yet were all that 
wealth worth nothing, unless that of an enemy one could 
make it become his friend. For what differs gold from a 
stone, but by discreet using of it?" 

Thus quoth Alfred: — "A young man must never give 
himself to evil, though good befals him not to his mind, nor 
though he enjoys not everything he would : for Christ can 
when lie will give good after evil, and wealth after grace. 
Happy is he that is made for it." 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " A wise child is the blessing of his 
father. If thou hast a child, while it is little, teach it the 
precepts that belong to a man ; and when it is grown up it 
will follow them ; then shall thy child become such as shall 
recompense them ; but if thou lettest him go after his own 
will, when he cometh to age it will grieve him sore, and he 
shall curse him that had the tuition of him : then shall thy 
child transgress thy admonition, and it would be better for 
thee that thou hadst no child; for a child unborn is better 
than one unbeaten." 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " Tf thou growest into age, hast 
wealth, and canst take no pleasure, nor hast strength to 
govern thyself, then thank thy Lord for all that he hath 



262 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

sent thee, for thy own life, and for the day's light, and for 
all the pleasures he hath made for man; and whatsoever 
becometh of thee, say thou, come what come will, God's will 
be welcome." 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " Worldly wealth at last cometh to 
the worms, and all the glory of it to dust, and our life is 
soon gone. And though one had the rule of all this middle 
world, and of the wealth in it ; yet could he keep his life 
but a short while. All thy happiness would but work thy 
misery, unless thou couldst purchase thee Christ. Therefore, 
when we lead our lives as God hath taught us, we then best 
serve ourselves. For then be assured that He will support 
us ; for so said Solomon, that wise man : — ' Well is he that 
doeth good in this world, for at last he cometh where he 
findeth it.' " 

Thus quoth Alfred : — " My dear son, set thee now beside 
me, and I will deliver thee true instructions. My son, I 
feel that my hour is coming. My countenance is wan. 

My My days are almost done. We must now part. 

I shall to another world, and thou shalt be left alone in all 
my wealth. I pray thee (for thou art my dear child) strive 
to be a father and a lord to thy people, be thou the children's 
father and the widow's friend, comfort thou the poor and 
shelter the weak ; and with all thy might, right that which 
is wrong. And, son, govern thyself by law, then shall the 
Lord love thee, and God above all things shall be thy 
reward. Call thou upon Him to advise thee in all thy 
need, and so He shall help thee the better to compass that 
which thou wouldst." 



209 



BOOK V. 



64. Alfred's Generosity towards his Female Prisoners. 
We find no indication of this act of generosity in any of 
the ancient records. 

65. Attachment of Subjects to their Sovereigns. 

This general thesis, applied by Haller to the Saxons, 
saying that they " are not worse than any other people ; and 
if they are ungrateful [to the sovereign] the source lays in 
the unbalanced constitution of the state," may equally well 
be applied to all such nations as are obliged to rise in open 
revolt — an action it is not our purpose to defend — as was 
the case not only in France, but throughout the whole con- 
tinent of Europe. We are fully aware of the attachment 
which the Prussian and Austrian subjects bore, and may 
still bear, to every offspring of the imperial houses ; and also 
their moderation and long forbearance before actually break- 
ing out. We are also perfectly assured that they will, in 
spite of the acquired privileges and strenuous exertion of 
the ultra-liberal faction, return to their monarchs that love 
which, in a moment of agitation, they have withdrawn from 
them, and the more so if sovereigns will but appreciate the 
spirit of the time more than they now seem to do. 

The same may be said of any government that does not 
keep pace with its time. 

66. Remarks on Aristocracy. 
A government, founded upon aristocratic principles, 
where the administration of the state is committed into the 
hands of a few leading men, if more feasible, is more dan- 
gerous than any other form, for tyranny always has been, 
and is, indeed, its necessary result, and of the worst kind, 
because its tyrants are multiplied; for if the very end of 
government is to protect man from the rapacity of his 



264 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

fellows, and if the stronger will ever take from the weak 
that which he possesses, if it falls in with his desires, it is 
evident that the same principle will apply to any number 
not identical with the community. What is applicable to 
an individual is applicable to several ; and if powers are put 
into the hands of even a small number, which renders them 
stronger than the rest of the community, they will wrest 
from it whatever they shall think necessary for the gratifi- 
cation of their desires. By this means the end of govern- 
ment would be defeated: the unfitness, therefore, of such a 
mode of government rests on the basis of demonstration ; 
its distinctive advantage is wisdom in council, which is more 
likely to be found in this species of government than any 
other, but there is less honesty than in a republic. 

We find an excellent article in a little work lately pub- 
lished, which expresses itself on natural and artificial aristo- 
cracy as follows : — 

" There is a natural aristocracy of ability and desert that 
has a constant tendency to rise into power, however it may 
be repressed or levelled down for a time by political consti- 
tutions. It is in truth the principle of progress, and its 
development neither can nor ought to be resisted. Industry 
and skill will accumulate property, that is the aristocracy of 
wealth; probity and honour beget confidence, that is the 
aristocracy of character ; talent and acquirements inspire 
admiration and deference, which constitute the aristocracy 
of intellect. These elementary differences pervade every 
walk and division of civil life, and no dozen men can be 
found associated in any pursuit or occupation in which one 
at least does not evince superior claims to precedence and 
direction. It is the order of nature, part of its consti- 
tution; just as a sprinkling of gold and rubies in the 
mineral world ; and the virtue is almost as great in yielding 
to such legitimate superiorities as in the possession of them. 
" But an aristocracy of prescriptive or hereditary privi- 
leges admits of no such defence. It may have been useful and 
just in its first foundation ; but the rendering it perpetual is 
an infringement of the common rights and interests of men. 
It is seeking to make a property of that which, from its own 
nature, cannot be appropriated, any more than the light of 
the sun or the universal atmosphere. If public worth and 
services could be made transmissible, then might the rewards 
which society willingly annexes to them be made transmis- 
sible also. But this is impossible. Honour or shame, 
intellect or hebetude, competence to serve the common- 



book v. 265 

"wealth or the contrary, form attributes of mind and dispo- 
sition, that can be as little interdicted as guaranteed, as the 
exclusive inheritance of any order, family, or individual. 
Clearly then, honours, distinctions, and political ascendancy, 
ought not to be tied up in perpetuity in any class ; they are 
the prizes of life, the stimulus to laudable acts and noble 
deeds, and ought to be free to reward the most deserving. 
Any other arrangement is inimical to social meliorations, 
fixes an artificial aristocracy in place of the natural one of 
desert, with which it is for obvious reasons in antagonism, 
and whose active competitions, that really tend to the 
advance of civilization, it constantly tries to stifle or para- 
lyze, for the sake of perpetuating its own usurpation." 

We do not altogether partake of the latter remark. It 
is true that it would flatter the opinions of a great many 
philanthropists, if privileges and distinction attained by 
birth were to cease, and equality resume its place among all 
men. But would those subjected to these nobles be the 
more happy for it ? No. Other kinds of aristocracies would 
form themselves, and oppress them even more than the 
nobles by birthright. This judgment is the more impartial, 
since we have witnessed, in former years, (while sojourning 
in the various countries,) the arrogance of Hanoverian 
nobles, and of the young Prussian chivalry, and also 
observed other German noble races, as the proud but well- 
educated Saxons, the simple and good-tempered Pomera- 
nians, the intelligent Silesians, the civilized Courlanders, 
the quarrellous Poles, the hnouting Russians ; and, in the more 
southern parts, the innocent low — and spoiled high — nobles 
of Austria, the bigoted Bohemians and Belgians, the bragging- 
Italians, and the beggarly pride of inflated Hungarian 
hussar-nobles, and grave Spanish hidalgos. But we have 
also been acquainted with highly distinguished members of 
British aristocracy, and of the faubourg St. Germain; and 
we are perfectly convinced that a part of the nobler inspi- 
rations of these individuals may be attributed, not only to 
their superior education, but to their hereditary reputation, 
the honour of which they are obliged to preserve. Without 
pretending that they are possessed of more virtue than any 
other class of men — less might even be a more appropriate 
term — they mostly act with a delicacy that conceals their 
faults and makes them less felt. 

It is, besides, mere prejudice to believe that the nominal 
descendants of most of the ancient houses are really con- 
sidered as succeeding generations, or that they have enjoyed 



266 NOTES, COMMENTKIES, ETC. 

their privileges for so many centuries past; for merit and 
circumstances have long since raised new houses to replace 
them. 

As the members of the aristocracy in most of the Euro- 
pean states are employed by the nation in war, and ven- 
ture their lives and limbs for the defence of their country, 
the nation owes more gratitude to their patriotism, their 
delicate sense of honour, and enlightened minds, than to the 
blind multitude whom they lead, and who are only used as 
tools ; it can therefore, with justice, allow them some privi- 
leges. Mirabeau defines the nobility as " that part of the 
nation to which the prejudice of valour and fidelity has been 
particularly entrusted;" and another French author says 
that " the world has fought for seven hundred years almost 
constantly for political or religious motives. Men fight 
in France, Spain, Italy, Sicily, England, Germany, and 
Flanders, from castle to castle, from town to town, from 
country to country, by land and by sea, everywhere and 
unceasingly, with a ferocity that alarms, and a perseve- 
rance that astonishes." And, noticing the reproach of 
privileges, he adds, "there is one of which the French 
aristocracy has always shown itself particularly jealous, it is 
that of shedding its blood for its country — a celui-ld, elle n'y a 
jamais fait forfait." 

Four of the Chatillon fell at St. Jean D'Acre in the 
second Crusade; five of the same house on the single field 
of Agincourt, where nearly ten thousand French of gentle 
blood were slain. At Courtray, four thousand five hundred 
knights, and at Cressy, twelve hundred fell. Our own wars of 
the roses were murderous to the princes and nobles engaged 
in them. In the reign of Henri IV. it was a matter of record 
that, during the eighteen years preceding, seven or eight 
thousand gentlemen had been killed in duels, as would 
appear from the lettres de grace, expedited from the chancery 
in that period. There were often six seconds of a side, all of 
whom engaged on these occasions. Nor were the wars of 
Louis XIV. without fatal effect upon more modern houses. 

The average duration of the elder branches of the male 
line of the French nobility, of three hundred and eighty 
noble houses, appears to have been about three hundred 
years ; the average number of descents in these three hun- 
dred years is ten. Out of two hundred and thirty houses 
there were but twenty in which nine or ten descents took 
place through the elder sons, and only seven where such 
descents amounted to eleven or twelve. 

" Man, being in honour, abideth not," wrote the Psalmist. 



book v. 267 

It might be transposed, " Being in honour, he will not abide, 
except in it and with it." He will not marry to condemn 
his issue to a discreditable poverty ; he will neither impose 
existence on others, nor submit his own to conditions which 
depress his sense of the position in which he was born. 

Say what we will, men who have filled a distinguished 
position in society, or in the world, feel the wish of surviving 
beyond the grave, and of leaving behind them some living 
representative of their name and race, which shall not de- 
scend into the tomb with themselves. And yet, in spite of this 
desire, so strongly implanted in the bosoms of men of everv 
nation and belief, one finds the lineage of great historical 
names in most countries have long ceased to exist. In Spain, 
France, Holland, and Zealand, the old families are nearly all 
extinct. In Switzerland, William Tell's female descendants 
became so in 1720. In France, in order to prevent it, 
nothing was more common than the adoption of collaterals, 
the issue of females, on condition that the name of the family 
should be assumed and continued. " Perhaps there was in 
this excusable desire a secret sympathy with the national 
pride ; for the prince found in it an additional ornament to 
his throne, and the country became identified with the glory 
of its chiefs." 

If it be natural that the last representative of an illus- 
trious house should regret its extinction with his demise, 
and try all means of perpetuating it, it is not less so that a 
whole nation should lament the loss of the men whose pen, 
or whose sword have ennobled or defended it — that deprived 
of their presence, it should still fondly attach itself to their 
name, and that the fiction which preserves them in the 
midst of their countrymen should be equally agreeable to 
the memory and the gratitude of the country. 

These remarks on the French nobility are applicable to 
most of the European states, but whether they are likewise 
so to that of Great Britain and the British army, is a ques- 
tion which we leave to the reader's own judgment to decide. 

67. Silk Gar merits in Alfred's time. 
Haller allows Amund to speak of silk as of an unknown 
tissue to Alfred ; but historians, whose veracity may be 
relied upon, inform us, that that material was in use among 
the Anglo-Saxons soon after their establishment in Britain ; 
but so expensive an article, we may reasonably suppose, 
must have been confined to the highest rank of the people. 
Coronation vestments and mantles, the external garments 
n2 



268 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

of the dignified clergy, and the robes of the queens and 
princesses were often made of this valuable material, it was 
also used for the adornment of altars, and for other religious 
purposes. 

68. Monarchical Power does not originate from Adam. 

Ancient Christian writers pretend that "monarchical power 
originated from Adam, and his title of sovereignty was 
founded by creation, and also by donation, and likewise the 
inheritance of monarchy." This origin of monarchy was not 
a moderate one, but an absolute monarchical power allotted 
to Adam. And an author of the end of the 17th century 
endeavours to prove : " Firstly, that this power of Adam 
was not to end with him, but was, upon his decease, con- 
veyed entire to some other person, and so on to posterity. 
Secondly, that the princes and rulers now on earth are pos- 
sessed of this power of Adam by a right way of conveyance 
derived to them." 

We have extracted these sentences from Locke's " Two 
Treatises on Government," wherein he contradicts "the 
false principles and foundations of Sir Robert Filiner and 
his followers" with great spirit and philosophical reasons. 
We regret that our space does not allow us to give as many 
extracts from it as it were otherwise our wish to do, and will 
therefore at present confine ourselves to the paragraph 105 
of his "Essay on Civil Government:" — 

" I will not deny, that if we look back as far as history 
will direct us towards the origin of commonwealths, we 
shall generally find them under the government and admi- 
nistration of one man. And I am also apt to believe, that 
where a family was numerous enough to subsist by itself, 
and continue together, without mixing with others, as it 
often happens where there is much land and few people, the 
government commonly began in the father, for the father 
having, by the law of nature, the same power with every 
man else to punish, as he thought fit, any offences against 
that law, might thereby punish his transgressing children, 
even when they were men and out of their pupilage ; and 
they were very likely to submit to his punishment, and all 
join with him against the offender in their turns, giving 
him thereby power to execute his sentence against any 
transgression, and so in effect make him the law-maker and 
governor over all that remained in conjunction with his 
family. He was fitted to be trusted ; paternal affection se- 
cured their property and interest under his care, and the 



book v. 269 

custom of obeying him in their childhood made it easier to 
submit to him rather than to any other. If, therefore, they 
must have one to rule them, as government is hardly to 
be avoided amongst men that live together ; who so likely 
to be the man as he that was their common father, unless 
negligence, cruelty, or any other defect of mind or body 
made him unfit for it. But when either the father died, 
and left his next heir, for want of age, wisdom, courage, 
or any other qualities, unfit to rule; or, where several 
families met and combined together; there, 'tis not to be 
doubted, but they used their natural freedom to set up him 
whom they judged the ablest and most likely to rule well 
over them. Conformable hereunto we find the people of 
America, who living out of the reach of the conquering swords 
and spreading domination of the two great empires of Peru 
and Mexico, enjoyed their own natural freedom, through 
coteris paribus, they commonly prefer the heir of their de- 
ceased king ; yet if they find him any way weak or incapa- 
ble, they pass him by and set up the stoutest and bravest 
man for their ruler." 

69. Honour and its meaning. 
It is an established fact, that comfort produces cowardice, 
and that " the delicate sense of honour " exists and must 
exist to a far greater extent with warriors, the nobility, 
their descendants, and with those nations where every man is 
obliged to be a soldier, and is destined to begin his career in 
the practice of arms, than with such as are given to domestic 
occupations only; but the word "honour" is not more ac- 
curately defined than the word " beauty," varying according 
to country and taste ; nor is it clearly demonstrated whether 
it implies external distinction or the inner worth of man. 
"The delicate sense of honour" which characterizes some 
nations is too often confounded with amour-propre, which 
makes a duel the immediate consequence of the slightest 
offence ; and although that exaggeration has certainly its 
share of good, we maintain that probity, impregnated in the 
heart of man, should be far more esteemed than the feeling 
of' false honour. By the expression which our author attri- 
butes to Alfred, that "life becomes a burthen if spent without 
honours,''' it is manifest that external honour alone is meant. 

70. Conscription, and Purchased Commissions. 
We cannot agree with Alfred here, as we have many 
examples of the most valiant warriors rising from mere 



270 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC, 

countrymen. Such can naturally seldom be leaders, since 
they fail in the knowledge required thereto. Yet we 
believe that in every state men should be brought up so 
as to be able to defend the country in case of necessity, 
whereby standing armies might be reduced. (Is it from fear 
that such a system has not been used in the latter times in 
England ?) We are not defenders of general conscription, 
as it was introduced into France by Napoleon ; for we have 
closely witnessed its evils, even in France, and in some parts 
of Germany subdued by the French emperor ; but we have 
also witnessed the very great advantages that arise from 
the three years' military service every Prussian must per- 
form, which, however, does not prevent him from following 
his eivic occupation, and gives to young men a regularity in 
employing their time, and a physical and moral education 
which otherwise many would not acquire. 

On the whole continent of Europe the custom of becom- 
ing a hero by paying down a sum of money has been 
abolished, and military commissions are only now sold in 
England. 

We leave it to others to make more ample commentaries 
on this subject. 

71. Momentary Inspirations in the People. 
In note 69, we have given our opinion upon " the sense 
of honour spread over the whole population ;" and, alas ! 
our terrestrial world does not at all seem to be fitted for that 
feeling to be spread over the whole population ; and if it does 
for a short time, and " every citizen glows for victory with 
the same ardour that inspires a general," (of which the 
history of ancient and recent times furnishes us with many 
examples ;) human nature and human wants are so con- 
structed that it cannot continue for any lengthened period. 
The heroical inspiration in the lower classes soon evaporates 
or takes false directions, therefore it is better (as they 
mostly do) for them to return to their own peaceable occu- 
pations. 

72. Nation of Shopkeepers. 
Amund observes, that " among the Serens there are too 
many shopkeepers and artisans." And Napoleon called the 
British " a nation of shopkeepers." Both had probably the 
same idea in using those expressions ; for the lower kind of 
trade admits, in truth, of no elevation of mind, which varies 
in man according to his occupation ; and notwithstanding 



BOOK V. 271 

our esteem for men in general, (to whatever class they may 
belong,) we cannot deny that constant occupation in minor 
matters, with the apparent necessity of practising a little 
fraud, abases man so low as to disregard probity; and 
for that reason we consider a working man as much higher 
than a shopkeeper. But Napoleon, who very well under- 
stood military tactics, politics, and something of fine arts, 
does not seem to have — nor that he ever would have — con- 
ceived the poetical and superior side of high trade. It is not 
profit alone that induces men to undertake great mercantile 
enterprises. There is a charm in the combination and 
execution of extensive mercantile transactions, in which 
one man employs innumerable branches. Foreign settle- 
ments, productions, ships, circumstances of war and peace, 
famine and abundance, are all instruments for the execution 
of his will ; and he holds the thread of all the different means 
which he employs, and calculates their strength and effects as 
well as Napoleon did that of his different corps oVarmees. 
The high trade is really a grand occupation, but its abuses 
alone abase man ; and a nation as England was at the end 
of the last century — the highest in the world — cannot be 
compared to one of " shopkeepers." 

But with all the credit that we give to the high station of the 
merchant in society, we cannot deny that while he remains 
in commercial activity, he is unfit for public business ; his 
mind is wholly engrossed with fear and hope, not only in 
business time, but in every moment that he is awake — in 
his dreams — in the circle of his family and friends — in places 
of public amusement, and perhaps even of worship ; as it is 
almost impossible for a man, whose existence depends partly 
on chance, to suppress these ideas, which constantly occupy 
him : and if merchants rise to high public functions, and 
remain at the same time in mercantile business, examples 
have already proved that the latter must suffer from it. As 
concerns shopkeepers, Montesquieu relates that, " Tout bas 
commerce etait infame chez les Grecs. II aurait fallu qu'un 
citoyen eut rendu des services a un esclave, a un locataire, a 
un etranger : cette idee choquait Tesprit de la liberte grecque. 
Aussi Platon veut-il, dans ses lois, qu'on punisse un citoyen 
qui ferait le commerce." 

73. Moral Degradation produced by Comfort. 
Notwithstanding our observations on the high trade in 
the foregoing note, we cannot conceal that almost every 
trading nation sinks to the degree expressed by the words 



272 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

in page 89, as history informs us of the Carthagenians, 
Venetians, &c. The acquired wealth of some individuals 
weakens and enervates their nobler minds ; and competition 
compels others to think " merely of the means of subsis- 
tence." Both consider comfort as of essential, and honour 
of secondary importance, to human existence ; and both must 
be aroused by adverse circumstances to consider them in 
any other light. 

74. Chinese Sages. 

We must remind the reader, that this was written in 
the last century, and before the last Chinese war had taken 
place ; a war which, notwithstanding the cruelties the Euro- 
peans then thought themselves obliged to commit, and which 
we would never defend, has been productive of much good 
to the trade of Europe and other countries. 

To the sages and great princes mentioned in page 90, we 
must add the name of the Emperor Kang-he, the second of 
the present dynasty, who wrote the sixteen maxims, entitled 
"The Sacred Edict;" on which his son, Yoong-Ching, wrote 
an amplification, which he published in the second year of 
his reign, and ordered to be read publicly to the people 
on the first and fifteenth of every month. This work may 
be considered as of very high rank in the light of political 
morality; and we will, for that reason, sometimes have to 
refer to it. 

75. Comfort produced by Industry and pure Pleasure. 
By importing from all parts of the globe the rich produc- 
tions of nature and culture, industry might indeed produce 
treasures beneath a cloudy sky, which creates a comfortable 
home and a social assembly around the humble hearth, that 
replaces the felicity afforded by countries more favoured by 
nature. While we acknowledge all this, and endeavour to 
deceive our imagination by brilliant gas-light and the warm 
tint of a brush, which represents to us, in the opera-house or 
diorama, the charming features of a southern scenery, we 
cannot, however, suppress the ardent desires of living under 
a milder zone, and breathing the balmy odour of the country 
" in which the lemon grows," and where the sky almost 
constantly shines in brilliant azure. 

76. Linen Garments among the Anglo-Saxons. 
Linen certainly formed a very large part of the Anglo- 
Saxon habits : it was an article indiscriminately worn by 



BOOK V. 273 

every class of people whose circumstances allowed them to 
purchase it, and was particularly appropriated to such gar- 
ments as were worn next the skin. The use of linen is of 
high antiquity among the Saxons; for a writer of their 
own, who flourished in the eighth century, informs us that 
the militia tunic in his time consisted of linen. Another 
ancient writer, describing the manners of the Longobards, 
says their vestments were loose and flowing , that they con- 
sisted chiefly of linen, like those of the Anglo-Saxons, and 
were ornamented with broad borders, woven and embroi- 
dered with various colours. 

Our German author attributes the perfection of embroi- 
dery, and that to the very highest degree, to a southern 
princess; we must however here observe, that he makes 
an historical error if he does not admit that art to have been 
excelled in by the Anglo-Saxon ladies, for it is certain that 
garments ornamented with needlework were held in the 
highest estimation by the Anglo-Saxons: and it is equally 
certain that the Saxon ladies excelled in the performance of 
these elegant manufactures. " The French and Normans," 
says an ancient author, " admired the beautiful dresses of 
the English nobility; for," adds he, "the English women 
excel all others in needlework, and in embroidery with gold : 
gesta gulielmi ducis apud ducken," p. 21. Another writer 
tells us, that "The Anglo-Saxon ladies were so famous for 
their skill in the art of embroidery, that the most elegant 
productions of the needle were called, by way of eminence, 
the English work? — Strutt, 74. 

77. Modern Despots. 
Our author has pictured such an absolute monarch in 
" Usong," a Persian despot, who carefully watches over all 
his servants, holding the reins of government in his own 
hands, and knowing how to bridle the power of his officers, 
so that no injustice or oppression towards his subjects can 
be committed without being severely punished. " Usong" 
is not a mere fiction, for that prince lived in the fifteenth 
century. In modern history we find Peter the Great, 
Frederick II., and Napoleon, rulers, who from their sagacity 
have done as much for their people, and have governed as 
well as the best constitution where all classes are repre- 
sented. The faults of Napoleon, as a monarch, paralyze to 
a certain degree his valour as a hero, and consequently 
place him, in many instances, below the two former sove- 
reigns. We however see, in the dynasties of the Chinese 
n 3 



274 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

emperors, many a ruler who possessed all the attributes of 
severity and lenity, and who exerted himself to the utmost 
in order to spread happiness throughout his over-populated 
dominions. But as nature seldom produces men who com- 
bine all the requisite qualities of a regent, (and history 
pictures to us by far more weak monarchs than such as 
deserved to be placed at the head of a nation,) it is naturally 
better for European countries that their power be checked 
by parliament and other governmental bodies, if not to do 
good, at least to prevent evil. 

78. Pastime of Sovereigns. 
We do not envy the leisure of sovereigns, and the diver- 
sions which they permit themselves ; it is a curious vanity 
of a people whom we need not seek far, governed under a 
constitutional form, to prefer bearing the heaviest burdens, 
(believing that they govern themselves,) rather than allow 
their sovereign to meddle with the government ; neither do 
we envy the function of the reporter of the " Court Circular," 
who presents to the eyes of a laborious people trifling actions, 
which are in reality not worth mentioning in newspapers; 
and which it were perhaps far better to pass under silence, 
as is done in other countries. 

79. Family Government. 

Montazgo. (has a Ubilla.) 

" Je vous ai demande sur la caisse aux reliques 
De quoi payer l'emploi d'alcade a mon neveu." 

Ubilla. (has.) 

" Vous, vous m'aviez promis de nommer avant peu 
Mon cousin Melchior d'Elva bailli de l'Ebre." 

Montazgo. (se recriant.) 

" Nous venons de doter votre fille. On celebre 
Encore sa noce. — On est sans relache assailli . . ." 

Ubilla. (bas.) 

" Vous aurez votre alcade." 

Montazgo. (bas.) 

" Et vouz votre bailli." 
(i7.s se serrent la main.) 

[" Buy Blas," Act iii. Scene I.] 



BOOK V. 275 

80. Sovereigns driven from their Thrones. 
Comme Part oVennuyer est celle de trop dire ; we will not 
quote examples of such princes driven from their thrones in 
the latest epoch. 

81. Aqua Toffana. 
We may congratulate ourselves that modern history does 
not present us with instances of governors like Nero and 
the family Borgia, but we deplore that the aqua toffana has 
been, even to the end of the last century, a political vehicle 
employed both in an imperial and a royal court of Europe. 

82. Dissipation and False Economy. 
It is a false application of economy that blames the dis- 
sipation of money in pageants, banquets, and insignificant 
solemnities. The money spent in that way returns more 
directly to the people than by any other channel ; and it is 
better for the court to spend more than its income, than to 
hoard it up, or purchase foreign stocks, in which consists a 
dead capital, of no use whatever to the nation, whose 
members have, at the sweat of their brow, contributed to 
the civil list. If we suppose that sovereigns consume 
the rarest dishes and the choicest wines, what they consume 
themselves can be but very little. And all that is spent in 
splendid buildings, rich paintings, fetes, and even with their 
maitresses, (who seldom treasure up the money) returns in 
some way or other to the nation, even if that money be 
spent in foreign countries, it cannot be considered as thrown 
away. All nations are in direct or indirect commercial tran- 
sactions with each other, and hence such capital returns in 
general traffic. The only evil is, that the amount of the civil 
list is mostly contributed by those upon whom it falls heaviest, 
and who must bear the greatest sufferings ; and it is the dis- 
proportion which exists between the receipts and the expenses 
that produces the evil, and not the expenses themselves. The 
words of a French king that " chaque paysan devoit avoir le 
Dimanche un poulet dans son pot-au-feu" are really greater 
than they are generally considered to be ; and we only wish 
they were everywhere realized. 

83. " Tax le droit etfen use.''' 
Everywhere, and even in countries subjected to a consti- 
tutional government, and perhaps there more than in others, 
public officers abuse the maxim, " J'ai le droit et fen use" 
and this is the source of many evils. There is no sufficient 
and powerful control over them. The blame, which in very 



276 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

rare cases falls upon others through the public papers, and 
in still rarer cases through the legislative body, is not suf- 
ficient to check these abuses, for in most instances there is 
no majority to censure them, and none to punish them, 
for " eine Krahe hackt der andern keinAuge aus." In absolute 
monarchies, the sovereign sometimes punishes the abuses of 
power, and the fear of it contributes still more to prevent 
them. 

84. Vide note 80. 

85. Forme?' and actual Punishment of unjust Princes. 
Modern history gives us similar examples in the deplor- 
able events that took place under Charles I., King of Eng- 
land ; Paul, Emperor of Russia ; Gustavus III., King of 
Sweden ; and Louis XVI., King of France ; but human 
progress in civilization prevents us from acting with such 
cruelty, and we are satisfied when princes abuse their 
power, de les chasser, as was done with Charles X., and 
others. 

86. Beware ! beware ! beware ! 

87. Expression of the unfortunate Louis XVI. 

The British constitution represents, in truth, that barrier 
to the absolute will of princes, which at the same time 
watches over his security ; and there is no doubt that the 
despotic monarch is far more unhappy than the prince who 
is bound by laws. 

A man of talent, and possessed of a knowledge of the 
world, has attributed the following words to Louis XVI., 
at the time of the French revolution of 1789, his object 
being more ironical than real, but by ridiculing the inac- 
tivity and the limit of a constitutional monarch, he has, in 
truth, described the happier situation of such a sovereign, 
compared to that of him who has to bear almost alone the 
whole weight of the governmental power. 

" You may," said Louis XVI., " be in future the legisla- 
tors, and I will provide for the execution of your laws, if 
you will only give me sufficient absolute power to force the 
contumacious, and this you can do, as you are now the 
masters. You can tear them to pieces with your teeth, even 
quarter them, without any legal proceedings. For what 
power in the world can oppose your will ? You will, as 
soon as you have taken my place, really reign and govern. 
The nobility and the clergy will indeed object to it, but 



BOOK V. 277 

their proportion is only as one to twenty-five. You must 
clip their rights, so that they shall be no longer able to draw 
you within the circle of their power and do you injury. To 
obtain this object, reduce the pride of the priests, thereby 
granting the offices of the church to your equals, and allow 
them no more than is strictly necessary for their subsistence. 

" With regard to the nobles, you need not take the 
trouble to impoverish them, it will be sufficient that you no 
longer respect their inherited titles and dignities, to make 
their prerogative vanish totally. Take an example from the 
wise contrivances of the Turks : as soon as those noble sirs 
cease to bear the titles of a duke or marquis, they will, to 
distinguish themselves, dissipate their fortunes in splendour 
and magnificence, which will conduce to the profit of the 
nation. Then their wealth will enter into general circula- 
tion, and advance trade. My ministers will in future be 
forced to a wiser conduct, when they are answerable to you 
for their actions, and it cannot be longer my duty to examine 
their capabilities. I certainly appoint them according to the 
exterior form, but, as soon as you please, I immediately drive 
them away. Thus will that tyranny also cease, which these 
ministers employed even against myself, by requiring that I 
should follow their counsels, and by exposing me consider- 
ably, inasmuch as they made use of my name in circum- 
stances which involved the state into difficulties. I submitted 
quietly for a long time, but at length it became impossible, 
and I am now liberated from them. 

"My spouse, my future children, my brothers, and my 
cousins, who call themselves princes of the blood, will cer- 
tainly, I know it, condemn me, but only in silence ; and 
they cannot say so to myself. Now that I am placed under 
your high protection, I can oppose them better than when 
they were only mine, and only considered my protection 
and my defence. But 7 have now done my duty in as- 
sisting you to lay before the world the superfluity of this 
protection. The discontented, who have taken their domi- 
cile on the other side of the realm, will return, sooner or 
later, as they think proper. They call themselves my real 
friends, but that I must laugh at. My true friends can only 
be those who accommodated their manner of thinking to 
mine. To the former, nothing in the world is of importance 
and worthy of consideration but the old right of my house, 
in which the royal dignity is enchained with the dignity of 
the regent. But, in my present situation, nothing can 
interest me more than my own peace ; the annihilation of 
the tyranny, which my ministers formerly practised against 



278 

me, and finally your satisfaction. Were I a charlatan, I 
might also tell you, that I bestow care upon the welfare and 
wealth of the country; but nothing in the world concerns 
me less now, and it is your duty alone to take care of 
this, which can only occupy you, and no one else. 

" For henceforth the kingdom is no longer mine ; I have, 
thanks to heaven, ceased to be King of France : I have 
become instead, as you very properly say, King of the 
French. I have only to propose to you that you advance in 
your management, and that, since by the present face of things 
I no longer occupy myself with any business or preserve 
any influence, you will have no objection if I often give 
myself to hunting, (or to walk in the pleasure grounds.)" 

The French constitution of that period was really a 
masterpiece of legislation, but so many short lived consti- 
tutions have since been baked, that we may consider the 
British as the best, not only from its form, but also from 
its possessing the quality of seniority. 

88. Fruitless Lesson. 
The great lessons given to princes in 1848, so pregnant 
with important events, seems as yet to have been almost 
disregarded; and notwithstanding their proclamations ad- 
dressed to their " beloved subjects," it is to fear they think 
themselves forced to employ severity, instead of pacific 
means, to appease the people, for which ultra-liber alists 
unfortunately give the most occasion. 

89. Best form of Government. 

We refer our readers to the Introduction and Conclusion 
of this little work, to the treatises of Locke, the works of 
Edmund Burke, "L'Esprit des Lois" of Montesquieu, the 
works of Baron de Wolf, and many ancient writers on this 
subject. 

90. Hereditary succession. 

" The hereditary succession to the throne of England is not 
of such indefeasible nature as not to be altered or modified. 
The constitution has lodged this power in Parliament — a 
power which, it is evident, must be vested somewhere — to 
meet cases of peculiar emergency, (6th Anne, c. 7.) Indeed, 
it is considered penal to call in question the right of the 
supreme legislature — crown, lords, and commons — to direct 
and modify the descent of the crown, by particular entails, 
limitations, and provisions, to the exclusion of the immediate 
heir ; and this is so extremely reasonable, that, without such 
a power lodged somewhere, any national polity would be 



BOOK V. 279 

very defective : for, to adduce one instance, should the heir 
apparent be a lunatic or an idiot, how inconvenient would it 
be to the nation, if there was not the power of some ar- 
rangement? On the other hand, the inheritance of the 
crown, the royal dignity, would be very precarious indeed, 
if this power were expressly lodged in the hands of the sub- 
ject, only to be exercised whenever prejudice, caprice, or 
discontent should rouse the public mind. Consequently, it 
can nowhere be so properly vested as in the two houses of 
parliament, with the consent of the reigning sovereign, who, 
it is to be supposed, will not agree to any improper diversion 
of the inheritance prejudicial to his own descendants ; and, 
therefore, in the hands of the sovereign, lords, and commons, 
the constitution has lodged it. And it is far from impossible 
to reconcile, if we do not suffer ourselves to be entangled in 
the mazes of metaphysical sophistry, the use both of a fixed 
rule and an occasional deviation — the sacredness of an here- 
ditary principle of succession in our government, with a 
power of change in its application in cases of extreme emer- 
gency. Even in that extremity, the change is to be con- 
fined to the peccant part only — to the part which produced 
the necessary deviation. A state without the means of some 
change is without the means of its conservation. An irre- 
gular convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off 
an irregular convulsive disease. But the course of succes- 
sion is the healthy habit of the British constitution. — Schom- 
berg's " British Constitution.' 1 '' 

91. Turbulence of the former Polish Diet. 
Our author here manifestly alludes to Poland, whose diet 
the world will recollect to have been the most turbulent ever 
recorded in the annals of history. Its example ought to 
serve as a warning to the members of recently formed 
similar institutions, to unite themselves as closely as possible 
for the purpose of securing the welfare of all states subjected 
to them, to reap the fruits of the people's efforts, and to 
preserve the privileges acquired by them, in a moment when 
the princes yielded, more through fear than conviction, which 
they already seem to repent, for many reasons, the ultra- 
liberal faction being one of the most important. 

92. Elements of the British Constitution. 

The elements of the British constitution unite all the 

advantages which Arnund required, and its practical working 

is as beneficial as its theoretical principle is sound. The 

executive power of the law is lodged in a single person ; 



280 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

and, from this circumstance, derives all the advantages of 
strength and despatch that belong to the most absolute 
monarchy. In the making of laws, which is the supreme 
power of the state, legislation possesses, in the House of 
Lords, all the wisdom and counsel of an aristocracy, whilst 
in the Commons it possesses all the advantages of a demo- 
cracy ; and it is worthy of observation, that the English form 
of government has not attained its present form from the 
theories and the speculations of individuals, but has grown 
out of those immutable laws by which the moral world is 
regulated ; and is founded, in its essential provisions, by a 
happy series of providential events, on the present necessi- 
ties of man. It is removed from the two extremes, which 
are alike injurious to the interests of society — the despotism 
of the monarch and the despotism of the multitude. It is 
a monarchy directed by laws, " controlled and balanced by 
the hereditary wealth and dignity of the nation ; and both, 
again, controlled by a judicious check from the reason and 
feeling of the people at large, expressed by a suitable and 
permanent organ;" so that no mischief can be attempted 
by any of the three branches, but may be withstood by one 
of the other two — each being armed with a negative power, 
which, if honestly exercised, is amply sufficient to resist any 
innovation which it may consider inexpedient or dangerous. 

This constitution, composed apparently of three powers, 
consists in reality of seven : 

The monarchical power. 

The legislative power. 

The checking power. 

The judicial power. 

The ecclesiastical power. 

The executive power, and 

The administrative power. 
But several of these may be considered as united together 
in one body, the legislative and checking powers, the monar- 
chical and executive powers, the judicial and administrative 
powers, and the ecclesiastical may, as far as mundane matters 
go, be considered as belonging to the first. 

93. Pretended Origin of Parliament. 
Littleton asserts that already, in the time of the Saxons, 
the people assembled in the form of a parliament, and at 
least the magistrates of towns and boroughs had their seats 
therein. This assertion he founds upon the claims of some 
boroughs in later years to that right, for the validity of which 
they quoted the manners of the times, as convincing proofs. 



BOOK V. 281 

The same author cites quotations therein, where the assem- 
bly of parliament is called " the people." Barnstaxte even 
pretends this to be mentioned in a charter of Athelstan, 
And the antiquaries, who attended at the assembly at Claren- 
don, were considered by Littleton as aldermen, or old magis- 
trates of every county ; but all this seems not a sufficient 
proof of the people having had a share in the government 
as they had under Henry III., and as it was afterwards 
constituted. It has never been accurately defined, either 
in law or history, that a member should be called from 
every county and every borough, nor is there any mention 
made of any particular person being nominated for that 
purpose; for among the few free plebians it would have 
been no easy matter to find out a sufficient number that 
were, from their estates, or bills of protection, independent 
of the nobility. Littleton owns himself, that the business 
of the realm was often settled in parliament by the nobility 
alone, without the presence of the people; and that the 
power of the people was by far too little to form an 
equilibrium between that of the monarch and that of the 
aristocracy. 

94. Miniature and other Republics. 

Minor republics, as the Hanseatic Towns, and some can- 
tons in Switzerland, have long enjoyed felicity. Among the 
former, Hamburg may be cited as a real model of a little 
republic. The legislative and executive powers consist in 
a senate of twenty-four members, one half of whom are 
learned, and the other private men, four burgomasters, 
a certain number of aldermen, churchwardens, a selected 
body of the citizens, and the whole body that have acquired 
the right of citizenship, which consists in being a house- 
holder, or obtaining the right by paying a considerable 
fee. Every law, or important decision, is only valid when 
it has been sanctioned by the senate and the citizens. 

The taxes are extremely moderate, so that every possible 
right of individual liberty, personal security, and happiness 
and wealth, has been preserved for many hundred years by 
the inhabitants of that town ; and the government gene- 
rally act with such wisdom, and the inhabitants are so 
laborious, that wealth has been proportionately speedily res- 
tored, even after the oppression of the French invasion, the 
cruelty of Davoust, and the great fire of 1842. 

Venice possessed a very small territory in proportion to her 
immense power, but abuses were more frequent there than 
in smaller republics. 



282 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

The Netherland republic existed for a long period, 
but the moderation of the cooler Dutch, together with their 
true patriotism, (compared to that of other nations,) contri- 
buted vastly towards it. 

The United States have, with an extensive territory, 
already peacefully enjoyed the fruits of a well-formed re- 
public, and of a legislation founded by a Washington and a 
Franklin, for three quarters of a ceutury ; but the inhabi- 
tants are tradesmen and agriculturists, not troubled with 
ambition, and the country is too distant and too extensive 
to be easily overwhelmed by invading European demagogues . 

95. Evils produced by Standing Armies. 
The evil produced by keeping great armies, which give to 
the generals a preponderance over the magistrates has not 
been extinguished in modern times, and not even since the 
time of Napoleon's abdication. Neither the holy alliance, 
nor the system of non-interference, preserved for a certain 
length of time, could contribute sufficiently to diminish this 
canker, which gnaws the welfare of all great European 
nations, and everywhere increases the national debt. If 
there is anything that we may envy of the Americans, it is 
that they have as yet kept that evil off themselves. 

96. Royal Domains. 
It is the duty of a great and faithful minister, while he 
advises the king to yield to the wishes of the people, at the 
same time to bestow his greatest care upon strengthening 
the king's power by preserving, not only his territorial pos- 
sessions, but likewise his private domains. He must exert 
himself to the utmost, and sacrifice his property, and even 
his life, to prevent the situation which ensures those posses- 
sions to his master from being changed into one wherein the 
prince is merely the first man in the nation, and the term, 
"royal domains," from being considered synonymous with 
that of " national property ;" as the sovereign only remains 
what he should be — a real monarch — so long as he re- 
mains in possession of his royal domains. He can even 
yield with the more facility to the will of the people, since 
the possession of these domains ensures him security and 
permanence; and in such a situation his compliance is 
noble and worthy. All that the regent thus allots is con- 
sidered as a free gift, and does not only preserve but even 
increases the esteem and consideration of the people to- 
wards him. He then remains an uncompelled and wealthy 
donor; and the monarch who can with safety maintain 



book v. 283 

such a function will not be deprived of the veneration, 
gratitude, and obedience of his subjects. 

But what is a regent deprived of his domains, who 
receives his income from the same multitude by whom he is 
often opposed? And even were the civil list doubled or 
trebled, the prince still remains impoverished in a country, 
the trade of which is not its principal resource; a man with- 
out property, and in the most abject dependance on those 
whom he should meet with generosity, and who have short- 
ened his own property. The word "majesty"* loses its force, 
and the agitated populace feel that the regent can give no- 
thing more to those from whom alone he receives. 

The regent who remains in full possession of his domains, 
even if they be indebted, can alone present himself before 
his people as a father and a benefactor. He can do this 
without putting on a mask or performing a false part, at 
which the spectator would secretly smile. Such a prince 
can alone grant graces and compliances to the nation, he 
alone can with real and effective power paralyze, if not 
altogether avert, by concessions to general wishes, the evil 
consequences of bad direction, and all this with royal 
dignity. 

But the minister who does not oppose, with all his might, 
the realization of domains, even if he thinks himself answer- 
able to the nation alone, does not his duty, for he does not 
only deprive his monarch of his dignity, and his master's 
race of existence, but he injures the people by impoverish- 
ing him who, in times of insurrection, could coolly, and with 
impartiality witness the storm, and even yield to it without 
having to fear for himself. 

" Formerly the kings of England, as of other European 
states, were supported from the soil, and not by the system 
of revenue organised in later times. Commerce and manu- 
factures were then almost unknown ; of money there was 
little, and scarcely any imposts. Gradually the sovereign 
found out the means of supplying his wants by burdening 
his lieges with taxes, which rendered the revenues derived 
from his private domains of less importance. Hence, con- 
temporaneously with the progress of national burdens, may 
be dated the neglect and alienation of the hereditary pos- 
sessions. The chief remains of these are the crown lands, 
consisting of parks, forests, chases, manors, fisheries, and 
royalties, extensive estates, numerous leaseholds, church 
livings, fee-farm rents, light-house dues, and mineral trea- 

* The word "majesty" was not used in England until the reign of 
Henry VIII. 



284 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

sures. The property is scattered in almost every part of 
the kingdom, but principally in the metropolis and vicinity ; 
much of it is in Wales, and there are large estates in 
Ireland." 

The above lines are taken from Mr. John Wade's recently 
published work ; and with respect to the employment of the 
revenues of the royal domains, we refer the reader to the said 
work, the title of which he will easily discover if he feels any 
interest in it ; with all the good which that book contains, 
we do not like to recommend it from its very inflammable 
character. The existence of that work, although very recent, 
and the little injury which it has committed until the present 
moment, corresponds with the remarks of Montesquieu, that 
the climate very much contributes towards the patience of 
the inhabitants of England ; " La servitude commence tou- 
jours par le sommeil ; mais un peuple qui n'a de repos dans 
aucune situation, qui se tate sans cesse, et trouve tous les 
endroits douloureux, ne pourrait guere s'endormir." 

97. Faults of Elective Power. 
This thesis is proved by the examples of the Emperors of 
Germany, who were elective; and notwithstanding their 
repeated elections, and that they originally united the 
Roman imperial crown to that of Germany, a power they 
mostly inherited from Charles V., that dignity has almost 
continually remained m one family, that of the descend- 
ants of Habsburg, (not Hapsburg, as we often see it 
printed in the " Times") Their power has successively de- 
clined, for the most insignificant prince permitted himself 
resistance, until Napoleon put a stop to it by obliging those 
crowned heads to be satisfied with a title they had themselves 
decided upon — that of Emperor of Austria. The election 
appertaining to the old dignity was not the sole cause of its 
decline, but rather the circumstance of emperors not being- 
possessed of sufficient executive power, nor of the right of 
using Austrian troops against revolting German princes. 
For that purpose they possessed a little German army, 
called " Reichsarmee" which was ridiculed by everybody 
and almost considered like Falstaff's troop of recruits. 

98. Sacredness and Inviolability of the Person of the 
Sovereign. 
The law enacting that the person of the sovereign is 
sacred and inviolable is in just accordance with the authen- 
ticated revelation of the Supreme Governor of the world, 
who announces to the tribes of men the important truth : — 



BOOK V. 285 

"By Me kings rule, and princes decree judgment." It is 
but just, then, that the supreme magistrate should be thus 
dignified : and our constitution has not only followed the 
voice of nature, which makes the public head the represen- 
tative of the majesty of the nation, but what, in this case, is 
still more audible — the voice of God — by awarding to them 
those attributes, and covering them with their defence, as 
with a shield of celestial strength. The royal person is 
sacred, set apart and consecrated to a high and responsible 
office, for ends of the highest importance, and fraught with 
results of the most important character. The monarch is to 
be considered as the vicegerent of heaven. The divine 
oracle makes the announcement — The sovereign is " the 
minister of God." Necessarily the immediate servant of the 
Most High, who shall dare to invade prerogatives which are 
held under such a charter ? It must be either folly or mad- 
ness, seeing that it is attended with such a sanction as that 
contained in the following declaration : — " He that resist- 
eth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." 

The above lines, quoted from the Rev. E. D. Schomberg's 
work, form the basis and immutable principle upon which the 
personal dignity of the British sovereigns was founded ; and 
it was the policy of our forefathers to use the sanction of 
religion in building up the safeguard of the state ; and the 
fundamental maxim, that the king can do no wrong, neces- 
sarily follows the principle, that the person of the sovereign 
is sacred and inviolable ; for had our forefathers declared 
the one without the other, the royal person, although sacred 
and inviolable in appearance, would have been exposed to end- 
less accusation and perpetual dangers ; not that the transcen- 
dant station of the British monarchs elevates them above the 
infirmities and errors incident to human nature; but, because 
the practical wisdom of our ancestors thought it expedient 
that such a defence should be thrown around them, and have 
so ordained it that not they, but their ministers, should be 
responsible for the errors of the administration. If the 
sovereign, who is a branch of the legislature, were to be 
Bubject to the will, and liable to the impeachment of the 
other branches, it is evident that all the elements of discord 
would be let loose to disorder the state. It has, therefore, 
by a bold and almost superhuman effort, surrounded that 
sacred person with a wall of adamant : it has given the 
monarch a kind of political perfection ; and, as the civil 
head represents the collective body of the nation, it has 
determined that, politically speaking, the crown cannot err; 
and though at first sight, this may appear a dangerous posi- 



286 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

tion, yet we shall afterwards see, when we come to treat of 
the limitations of the monarchy, how completely it is neu- 
tralized, as to any tendency to evil. At present, without 
having recourse to the doctrine of "the divine right of 
kings," we must repeat that it is the essence of wisdom, and 
the groundwork of our political existence. But the doc- 
trine of "divine right," when soberly interpreted, can 
scarcely admit of controversy, viz., that the monarchical 
power, to which such important trusts have been committed, 
is under the peculiar sanction of that Divine Providence 
which extends its care to every individual of the human 
race, however ignoble or mean. 

This right of inviolability of the person of the monarch 
has been preserved from the most remote to the latest times ; 
and even the French nation has acknowledged, in chap.ii.p.ll, 
of the constitution which Louis XVI. was compelled to give 
them, that " the person of the king is sacred and inviolable :" 
which however did not prevent them from executing the 
same unfortunate king a year after. 

In the most recent times nations seem, however, to have 
shown disregard for that fundamental law of monarchical 
power, but there is no doubt they will soon return to it, as 
common sense must acknowledge, that no monarchical power 
can subsist without that maxim. 

99. Royal Power limited by Laws. 
Locke expresses himself on this subject as follows : — 
"Though the legislative, whether placed in one or more, 
whether it be always in being or only by intervals, though 
it be the supreme power in every commonwealth; yet it is 
not, nor can possibly be, absolutely arbitrary over the lives 
and fortunes of the people. For it being but the joint of 
every member of the society given up to that person, or 
assembly, which is legislator, it can be no more than those 
persons had in a state of nature before they entered into 
society, and gave it up to the community. For nobody can 
transfer to another more power than he has in himself; and 
nobody has an absolute arbitrary power over himself, or 
over any other, destroy his own life, or take away the life or 
property of another. A man, as has been proved, cannot 
subject himself to the arbitrary power of another; and 
having in the state of nature no arbitrary power over the 
life, liberty, or possession of another, but only so much as 
the law of nature gives him for the preservation of himself, 
and the rest of mankind ; this is all he doth, or can give up 



book v. 287 

of the commonwealth, and by it to the legislative power, so 
that the legislative can have no more than this ; their power, 
in the utmost bound of it, is limited to the public good of 
the society. It is a power that hath no other end but pre- 
servation, and therefore can never have a right to destroy, 
enslave, or designedly to impoverish the subject ; the obli- 
gations of the law of nature cease not in society, but only 
in many cases are drawn closer, and have by humane laws 
known penalties amerced to them to enforce their observa- 
tion. Thus the law of nature stands as an eternal rule to all 
men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make 
for other nations must be conformable to the law of nature, 
i. e. to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and 
the fundamental law of nature being the preservation of 
mankind, no human sanction can be good or valid against it. 

" The legislative, or supreme authority, cannot assume to 
itself a power to rule by extemporary arbitrary decrees, but is 
bound to dispense justice, and decide the rights of the subject 
by promulgated standing laws, and known authorized judges. 
For the law of nature being unwritten, and so nowhere to 
be found but in the minds of men, they who, through passion 
or interest, shall miscite or misapply it, cannot so easily be 
convinced of their mistake where there is no established 
judge : and so it serves not as it ought to determine the 
rights, and fence the properties of those that live under it, 
especially where every one is judge, interpreter, and execu- 
tioner of it too, and that in his own case : and that he has 
right on his side, having ordinarily but his own single 
strength, hath not force enough to defend himself from 
injuries, or to punish delinquents. To avoid these incon- 
veniences which disorder men's properties in the state of 
nature, men unite into societies, that they may have the 
united strength of the whole society to secure and defend 
their properties, and may have standing rules to bound it, 
by which every one may know what is his. To this end it is 
that men give up all their natural power to the society they 
enter into, and the community put the legislative power into 
such hands as they think fit, with this trust, that they shall 
be governed by declared laws, or else their peace, quiet, and 
property, will still be at the same uncertainty as it was in the 
state of nature. 

" Absolute arbitrary power, or government without settled 
standing laws, can neither of them consist with the ends of 
society and government, which men would not quit the free- 
dom of the state of nature for, and tie themselves up under 
were it not to preserve their lives, liberties, and fortunes, 



288 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

and by stated rules of right and property to secure their 
peace and quiet. It cannot be supposed that they should 
intend, had they a power so to do to any one or more, an 
absolute arbitrary power over their persons and estates, and 
put a force into the magistrate's hand to execute his 
unlimited will arbitrarily upon them. This were to put 
themselves into a worse condition than the state of nature, 
wherein they had a liberty to defend their right against the 
injuries of others, and were upon equal terms of force to 
maintain it, whether invaded by a single man, or many in 
combination. 

" The supreme power cannot take from any man any part 
of his property without his own consent. For the preserva- 
tion of property being the end of government, and that for 
which men enter into society, it necessarily supposes and 
requires that the people should have property, without which 
they must be supposed to lose that by entering into society, 
which was the end for which they entered into it, too gross 
an absurdity for any man to own. Men therefore in society, 
having property, they have such a right to the goods, which 
by the law of the community are theirs, that nobody hath a 
right to take them, or any part of them from them, without 
their own consent ; without this they have no property at 
all. For I have truly no property in that which another 
can by right take from me when he pleases, against my con- 
sent. Hence it is a mistake to think that the supreme or 
legislative power of any commonwealth can do what it will, 
and dispose of the estate of the subject arbitrarily, or take 
any part of them at pleasure." 

100. Liberty of the Press. 

The truth of this observation cannot be contested. Even 
the liberty of the press needs to be moderated by some sound 
limits ; for that which at first is the liberty of the press, 
too often degenerates into the licentiousness of the press. 
This is the reason why all legislators, who surrendered the 
gift of that inflammable phlogiston into the hands of the 
people, have soon been obliged to retract it: in the hands 
of the English only has it been supported for a length 
of time ; but, " si cetle nation avait encore recu du climat un 
certain caractere d impatience qui ne lui permit pas de souffrir 
longtemps les memes choses"* the abuses of the press would 
be considerably greater than they actually are. 

Although the British legislators have thought themselves 

* Montesquieu. 



BOOK Y. 289 

obliged to limit (by a recent law) printed and verbal free 
expressions, we believe that to appease turbulence they had 
at their disposal other and better means than the violation 
of one of their fundamental laws ; as at present, of all na- 
tions, the English and the daughter country are, from their 
moderation, the only ones worthy of possessing, unlimited, 
that golden fruit of liberty. With respect to verbal expres- 
sions, see Note 165. 

101. Justice sacrificed to momentary Welfare. 
The means of winning the laws through the judges exist 
in all countries, not excepting the freest; and when these 
judges are of too high a rank, or too well paid to be influ- 
enced by bribery, it is done by misleading their views, and 
by it being represented to them that the security of society 
partly depends on their judgment ; whereby justice is often 
sacrificed to general welfare; examples of what we now 
advance occurred not a century back. 

102. Means of Influence. 

The creation of peers, and the nomination of court func- 
tionaries, belong to this category, as well as the increasing 
number of civil servants of government. "In 1847," says a 
recently published work, " the number of persons employed 
by the English government in the capacity of civil servants 
was estimated at twenty-five thousand, with salaries short of 
three millions. In France, in the same year, the number of 
employes of the government was nearly six hundred thou- 
sand ; and as the number of registered electors amounted 
only to two hundred thousand, it left three places for each 
voter to aspire to. Here was a resource for influencing the 
elections, and securing a majority in the Chamber of Depu- 
ties ! each member in consequence became the centre of a 
constellation of government dependants, who had bartered 
the electoral franchise for place and profit." 

On honour, used as a lever in government, Montesquieu 
speaks as follows : — " Comme il faut de la vertu dans une 
republique, et dans une monarchic de Thonneur, il faut de la 
crainte dans un gouvernement despotique : pour la vertu elle 
rCy est point necessaire, et Vhonneur y serait dangereux." 

103. Liberty of Opinion. 

Haller here permits the most absolute monarch, Alfred, to 
defend the rights of the liberty of the press, or rather, (as 
no newspaper existed in his time,) those of speaking the 



290 NOTES, COMMENTAKIES, ETC. 

truth, and freely expressing one's opinions ; while in the fol- 
lowing paragraph, (p. 104,) the free-thinking Amund recom- 
mends some boundaries to that unlimitted liberty. We refer 
our readers on this subject to Note 100. 

104. Limits of the patience of a Nation. 
It is quite superfluous to cite examples here, the reader 
will find sufficient ones by looking back into the events of 
1848. 

105. Fines for accidental words. 

We rather suspect that when Haller made use of that 
number he was thinking of the gold mines of Mexico, as 
those of California were not then discovered. 

106. Legitimacy of Insurrection. 

This medium is exceedingly difficult to find ; for every 
insurrection, even those against the most despotic prince, is, 
after all, a criminal action, an attack of individuals against 
society in general, and the existing laws ; but as the revo- 
lutionaries, who act from true patriotism, are well aware of 
their actions, and know that they begin with high treason, 
and that the result alone can sanction their efforts, they 
in general believe that the purpose excuses the means ; 
and as our head must condemn, and our heart defend 
them, we are glad to find in the following words of Locke a 
wiser defender than we can, or wish to, pretend to be: — 
" What then, can there no case happen wherein the people 
may of right, and by their own authority, help themselves, take 
arms, and set upon their king, imperiously domineering over 
them ? None at all, whilst he remains a king. Honour the 
king, and he that resists the power, resists the ordinance of 
God; are divine oracles that will never permit it. The people 
therefore can never come by a power over him, urdess he does 
something that makes him cease to be a king. For then he 
divests himself of his crown and dignity, and returns to the 
state of a private man, and the people become free and supe- 
rior ; the power which they had in the interregnum, before 
they crowned him king, devolving to him again. But there are 
but few miscarriages which bring the matter to this state. After 
considering it well on all sides, I can find but two. Two cases 
there are, I say, whereby a king, ipso facto, becomes no king, 
and loses all power and regal authority over his people, which 
are also taken notice of by Winzerus. 

"The first is, if he endeavour to overturn the government* 



BOOK V. 291 

that is, if he have a purpose and design to ruin the kingdom 
and common-wealth, as it is recorded of Nero, that he re- 
solved to cut off the senate and people of Rome, lay the city 
waste with fire and sword, and then remove to some other 
place. And of Caligula, that he openly declared that he 
would be no longer a head to the people or senate, and that 
he had it in his thoughts to cut off the worthiest men of 
both ranks, and then retire to Alexandria ; and he wished 
that the people had but one neck, that he might despatch 
them all at a blow. Such designs as these, when any king 
harbours in his thoughts and seriously promotes, he imme- 
diately gives up all care and thought of the commonwealth, 
and consequently forfeits the power of governing his sub- 
jects, as a master does the dominion over his slaves whom 
he hath abandoned. 

"The other case is, when a king makes himself the depen- 
dant of another, and subjects his kingdom which his ances- 
tors left him, and the people put free into his hands, to the 
dominion of another. For however, perhaps, it may not be 
in his intention to prejudice the people, yet because he has 
hereby lost the principal part of regal dignity, viz. to be 
next and immediately under God, supreme in his kingdom, 
and also because he betrayed or forced his people, whose 
liberty he ought to have carefully preserved, into the power 
and dominion of a foreign nation. By this, as it were, alien- 
ation of his kingdom, he himself loses the power he had in 
it before, without transferring the least right to those on 
whom he would have bestowed it, and so by this act sets the 
people free, and leaves them at their own disposal. One 
example of this is to be found in the Scotch Annals. 

"In these cases Barclay, the great champion of absolute 
monarchy, is forced to allow, that a king may be resisted, 
and cease to be a king. That is, in short, not to multiply 
cases, in whatsoever he has no authority, there he is no king, 
and may be resisted : for wheresoever the authority ceases, 
the king ceases too, and becomes like other men who have 
no authority. And these two cases he instances differ but 
little from those above mentioned, to be destructive to 
governments, only that he has omitted the principle from 
which his doctrine flows, and that is, the breach of trust, in 
not preserving the form of government agreed on, and in 
not intending the end of government itself, which is the 
public good and preservation of property. When a king 
has dethroned himself, and put himself in a state of war with 
his people, what shall hinder them from prosecuting him who 
o2 



292 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

is no king, as they would any other man, who has put him- 
self into a state of war with them ; Barclay, and those of his 
opinion, would do well to tell us. This farther I desire may 
be taken notice of out of Barclay, that he says, ' The mis- 
chief that is designed them, the people may prevent before 
it be done,' whereby he allows resistance when tyranny is but 
in design. Such designs as these, (says he) when any king 
harbours in his thoughts and seriously promotes, he imme- 
diately gives up all care and thought of the commonwealth ; 
so that, according to him, the neglect of the public good is 
to be taken as an evidence of such a design, or at least for a 
sufficient cause of resistance. And the reason of all he gives 
in these words, because he betrayed or forced his people, 
whose liberty he ought carefully to have preserved. What 
he adds into the power and dominion of a foreign nation 
signifies nothing, the fault and forfeiture lying in the loss of 
their liberty which he ought to have preserved, and not in 
any distinction of the persons to whose dominion they were 
subjected. The people's right is equally invaded, and their 
liberty lost, whether they are made slaves to any of their 
own, or a foreign nation ; and in this lies the injury, and 
against this only have they the right of defence. And there 
are instances to be found in all countries, which show that 
it is not the change of nations in the persons of their gover- 
nors, but the change of government that gives the offence. 
Bilson, a bishop of our church, and a great stickler for the 
power and prerogative of princes, does, if I mistake not, in 
his treatise of Christian subjection, acknowledge that princes 
may forfeit their power and their title to the obedience of 
their subjects; and if there needed authority in a case where 
reason is so plain, I could refer my readers to Bracton, For- 
tescue, and the author of the Mirror, and others ; writers, 
who cannot be suspected to be ignorant of our government, 
or enemies to it. But I thought Hooker alone might be 
enough to satisfy those men, who relying on him for their 
ecclesiastical polity, are by strange fate carried to deny those 
principles upon which he builds it. Whether they are 
herein made the tools of cunning workmen, to pull down 
their own fabric, they had best look. This I am sure, 
their civil policy is so new, so dangerous, and so destructive 
to both rulers and people, that as former ages never could 
bear the broaching of it, so it may be hoped those to 
come, redeemed from the imposition of those Egyptian 
under-taskmasters, will abhor the memory of such servile 
flatterers, who, whilst it seemed to serve their turn, 



book v. 293 

resolved all government into absolute tyranny, and would 
have all men born to what their mean souls fitted them, 
slavery. 

" Here, 'tis like the common question will be made, who 
should be judge, whether the prince or legislative act con- 
trary to their trust ? This, perhaps, ill affected and factious 
men may spread amongst the people, when the prince only 
makes use of his due prerogative. To this I reply, the 
people shall be judge; for who shall be judge whether his 
trustee or deputy acts well, and according to the trust 
reposed in him; but he who deputes him, and must, by 
having deputed him, have still a power to discard him, 
when he fails in his trust. If this be reasonable in par- 
ticular cases of private men, why should it be otherwise in 
that of the greatest moment, where the welfare of millions 
is concerned, and also where the evil, if not prevented, 
is greater, and the redress very difficult, dear, and dan- 
gerous. 

" But farther, this question (who shall be judge ? ) cannot 
mean, that there is no judge at all. For where there is no 
judicature on earth, to decide controversies amongst men, 
God in heaven is judge : He alone, 'tis true, is judge of the 
right. But every man is judge for himself, as in all other 
cases, so in this, whether another hath put himself in a state 
of war with him, and whether he should appeal to the 
Supreme Judge, as Jeptha did. 

" If a controversy arise betwixt a prince and some of the 
people, in a matter where the law is silent or doubtful, and 
the thing be of great consequence, I should think the proper 
umpire, in such a case, should be the body of the people. 
For in cases where the prince hath a trust reposed in him, 
and is dispensed from the common ordinary rules of the law; 
there, if any men find themselves aggrieved, and think the 
prince acts contrary to, or beyond that trust, who so proper 
to judge as the body of the people, (who at first lodged that 
trust in him,) how far they meant it should extend ? But 
if the prince, or whoever they be in the administration, 
decline that way of determination, the appeal then lies 
nowhere but to heaven. Force between either persons, who 
have no known superior on earth, or which permits no 
appeal to a judge on earth, being properly a state of war, 
wherein the appeal lies only to heaven, and in that state the 
injured party must judge for himself, when he will think fit 
to make use of that appeal, and puts himself upon it. 

" To conclude, the power that every individual gave the 



294 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

society, when he entered into it, can never revert to the 
individuals again, as long as the society lasts, but will always 
remain in the community ; because, without this, there can 
be no community, no commonwealth, which is contrary to 
the original agreement. So also when the society hath 
placed the legislative in any assembly of men, to continue 
in them and their successors, with direction and authority 
for providing such successors; the legislative can never 
revert to the people whilst that government lasts ; because, 
having provided a legislative with power to continue for 
ever, they have given up their political power to the legisla- 
tive, and cannot resume it. But if they have set limits to 
the duration of their legislative, and made this supreme 
power in any person or assembly only temporary; or else, 
when, by the miscarriages of those in authority, it is for- 
feited, upon the forfeiture of their rulers, or at the deter- 
mination of the time set, it reverts to the society, and the 
people have a right to act as supreme, and continue the 
legislative in themselves, or place it in a new form, or new 
hands, as they think good." 

107. Non-appreciation of Public Opinion. 

The legal resistance of the powers joined to the sovereign 
is, in our times, mostly paralyzed by the majority on the side 
of the ministers ; and, in parliamentary debates, terminates, 
ninety-nine times out of a hundred, in pompous words, with- 
out any result. The observations proposed by the oppo- 
sition, in the form of amendments, are, if they contain the 
slightest tinge of blame, suppressed by the majority; and the 
debates themselves, in which that blame is reported, are 
probably not read, or even, perhaps, despised by the monarch, 
as coming from the opposition. 

The tokens of general aversion are, in most cases, not 
visible to the prince and his entourage, who generally stand 
between the people and himself — unless he ranges through 
the streets unknown, and in disguise, as Peter of Aragon, 
Joseph II., many caliphs of Bagdad, and other princes 
from the middle ages till the last century, (this method of 
discovering the truth has long been out of fashion,) — for the 
vivats exclaimed by the people on the public appearance of 
the monarch cannot give a just idea of the affection which 
the populace bear to their sovereign ; as these exclamations 
are mostly commanded, or shouted to practise their voices, 
and would be abandoned by many did it cost them as much 
as the value of a pint of beer, or a canon of wine. 



BOOK V. 295 

The resentment shown to bad officers is also void of suc- 
cess, as Us ne s'en soucient pas, and endeavour to remain with 
their " nichts durchbohrendem Gefuhle " as long as they can 
in their functions and dignities. Their responsibility to the 
nation is generally illusive, and their answers to the political 
questions addressed to them are mostly superficial; having 
secured the majority on their side, they do not even take 
the trouble of giving reasonable excuses for the abuses and 
errors they commit. 

108. Limits of Transgression. 

In Note 106, in which we have quoted an extract from 
" Locke's Maxims," the limits of transgression on the part of 
the king, which authorize the people to revolt, will be found; 
but we are glad to observe that our progress in civilization 
has advanced so far, that in all the recent events and 
revolutions, the people were not forced to seek their security 
in the blood of the tyrants. 

109. Tyrants govern by Fear. 

The action of Charles XII., of writing to his senate that 
he would send one of his boots to represent him, was fear- 
fully avenged on himself.* And Montesquieu says that 
" Lorsque dans le gouvernement despotiqwe le prince cesse 
un moment de lever le bras, quand il ne peut pas aneantir a. 
Tinstant ceux qui ont les premieres places, tout est perdu." 
And the worst is, that a despot cannot stop in his course of 
tyranny, even if he would. — " Le sophi de Perse, detrone 
par Miriveis vit le gouvernement perir avant la conquete, 
parce qu'il n'avait pas verse assez de sang ;" — but as in the 
hands of Providence all means, even evil, lead to good, — 
" L'histoire nous dit que les horribles cruautes de Domitien 
effrayerent les gouverneurs au point que le peuple se retablit 
un peu sous son regne. C'est ainsi qu'un torrent qui ravage 
tout d'un cote laisse de l'autre des campagnes ou l'ceil voit 

* This fact is founded on the authority of historians, who pretend that 
Charles XII. was killed by his own subjects through the medium of Siquier, 
his aide-de-camp, a man of spirit and execution, engaged in his service in 
Turkey, who was particularly attached to the Prince of Hesse ; but it is not 
unknown to us that Voltaire contradicts this opinion in Siquier's own words: 
— " J'aurai pu tuer le rot de Suede; mats tel ctait mon reaped pour ce hetus, 
que si je I'avais voulu,je n'aurais pas ose~." The same author attributes to 
Charles XII. so many virtues, that we should do wrong to call him a despot, 
did not Voltaire acknowledge that his justice was sometimes extended to 
cruelty, and that in his last years, the maintenance of his authority ap- 
proached to tyranny. 



296 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

de loin quelques prairies." Even in the most recent epochs 
we have experienced that fear, combined with reason, have 
fulfilled the difficult task of preventing anarchies, which the 
latter alone would not have been capable of doing. 

110. Functions of the Nobility in the State. 
We have in a former note spoken of the nobility and their 
advantage to the state. The British nobility, which form, in 
conjunction with the bishops of the Church of England, 
sixteen peers elective for Scotland, and twenty-eight for 
Ireland, the members of the House of Lords, may be con- 
sidered as the natural guardians of the constitution, — the 
hereditary legislators of the land. The perpetuation of 
property in succession is the most valuable arrangement and 
most interesting consideration connected with its possession, 
and contributes most to the perpetuation of society itself. 
The possessors of family wealth, and of the distinctions which 
attend hereditary possessions, as most concerned in it, are 
the natural securities for this transmission. The House of 
Peers is formed upon this principle : — it is wholly composed 
of hereditary property and hereditary distinction, and made 
therefore the third of the legislature ; and, in the last event, 
the sole judge of all property in all its subdivisions. They 
are eminently the great council of the sovereign ; and are, 
as a body, the most exalted and independent in the state. 
In this house, indeed, is combined all that is illustrious in 
rank, splendid in talent, elevated in soul, and ample in 
fortune. No state of things could at once create such an 
assembly as the British House of Lords. It has been created 
by a long train of circumstances, over which, as it were, our 
ancestors had no control — it has grown, as all great institu- 
tions must, out of the necessity of things — it represents at 
once the wealth, the knowledge, the honour, and the ancient 
blood of the country — it may be destroyed, but not created. 
Fresh blood is constantly infused into the House of Lords 
from the ranks of the army, the navy, and the law; and under 
our happy constitution, the humblest man in the realm may 
aspire to the highest rank amongst the nobility as the reward 
of his talents and industry. Although confessedly the aris- 
tocratic part of the legislature, and inheriting all the feelings 
of their high birth, yet they have never wanted men of the 
noblest genius, and of the most enlightened and liberal views, 
who preferred the glory of their country to the elevation of 
their own order. There was a time, indeed, when the 



book y. 297 

very lustre that surrounded their rank dazzled and over- 
powered the multitude : but, in these days of free and 
unrestrained inquiry, the once sacred barrier of rank has 
been completely invaded and broken through ; and, as is 
always the case, the triumph in one instance has rendered 
the whole phalanx less inviolable ; and we every day find 
their public conduct as freely canvassed and animadverted 
upon as that of any other individual class in the state ; 
nor are we left to doubt but that very great advantages 
are likely to arise from such a scrutiny. It was not desi- 
rable that the very name, devoid of other circumstances, 
should produce its effects on the community. This influen- 
tial body have been taught that title alone, like all other 
earthly distinctions, is vain, unless allied to more transcen- 
dant qualities. The attainments of the understanding, and 
the virtues of the heart, are, assuredly, the only true power. 
Without these, whatever may be the external splendour of 
the House of Lords, it must degenerate in its character, and 
its efforts for good become powerless ; it would sink from its 
proud elevation and defeat the design for which it was made 
a constituent part of the legislature. But it must not be so. . 
Any polished ruffian, dressed in robes, may personate a 
prince or a nobleman ; but true dignity of mind, integrity 
of purpose, and purity of manners, united with the endow- 
ments of the mind, can alone furnish an hereditary legis- 
lator of England. What, then, if the coronet shines more 
feebly amidst the blaze of science, the splendour of learning 
and the diffusion of knowledge, yet there is a vast majority 
of the thinking and respectable portion of the community 
who are fully prepared to give honour where honour is due, 
and in whose eyes the British peer, adorned with the graces 
of Christian virtue, is worthy of the highest respect and 
admiration. Nor can one behold, without exultation, the 
high moral tone and mental vigour which of late years have 
distinguished this privileged class of society, inasmuch as 
from this circumstance, we cannot but augur well for the 
institutions of our country, which, in a great measure, must 
stand or fall with them: and we may hope that the whole 
body shall be led to see that their power was not conferred 
upon them by the Supreme Governor of the world, to foster 
their own self-indulgence, and to increase their means of 
gratification, but for the good of the community at large; 
and that, by befriending the poor, protecting the innocent, 
succouring the indigent, and, in parliament, defending the 
rights, and securing the prosperity and happiness of the 
o3 



298 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

people, they will show themselves worthy of the high trust 
reposed in them by the constitution. 

" You do not imagine," says the immortal Burke, "that I 
wish to confine power, authority, and distinction to blood, 
and names, and titles. No : there is no qualification for 
government but virtue and wisdom, actual or presumptive. 
Wherever they are actually found, they have, in whatever 
state, condition, profession, or trade, the passport of heaven 
to human place and power. Woe to the country that would 
madly and impiously reject the service of the talents and 
virtues, civil, military, or religious, that are given to grace 
and to serve it ; and would condemn to obscurity everything 
formed to diffuse lustre and glory around a state. Woe to 
that country, too, that, passing into the opposite extreme, 
considers a low education, a mean contracted view of things, 
a sordid, mercenary occupation, as a preferable title to com- 
mand. Everything ought to be open, but not indifferently, 
to every man : no rotation, no appointment by lot, no mode 
of election operating in the spirit of sortition or rotation, 
can be generally good in a government conversant in exten- 
sive objects, because they have no tendency, direct or 
indirect, to fit the man for duty. I do not hesitate to say 
that the road to eminence and power, from obscure con- 
dition, ought not to be made too easy, nor a thing too much 
of course. If rare merit be the rarest of all rare things, it 
ought to pass through some sort of probation ; the temple of 
honour ought to be seated on an eminence. If it be open 
through virtue, be it remembered, too, that virtue is never 

tried but by some difficulty and some struggle Let those 

large proprietors, such as compose the House of Lords, be 
what they will (and they have their chance of being amongst 
the best,) they are, at the very worst, the ballast in the 
vessel of the commonwealth. For though hereditary wealth, 
and the rank which goes with it, are too much idolized by 
creeping sycophants, and the blind abject admirers of power, 
they are too rashly slighted in the shallow speculations of 
the petulant, assuming, short-sighted coxcombs of philo- 
sophy. Some decent regulated pre-eminence, some prefer- 
ence (not exclusive appropriation) given to birth, is neither 
unnatural, nor unjust, nor impolitic." 

Haller gives to the nobility the honourable function of 
"defending the state," "assisting the king," and averting 
"from the commoner [the people] all kinds of oppression." 
We heartily wish that on this last point they may bestow 
their utmost care and most ardent exertions. 



BOOK V. 299 

;i Abollissez dans une monarchie les prerogatives des seig- 
neurs, duclerge,de la noblesse, etdes villes,vous aurez bientotun 
etat populaire, ou bien un etat despotique" — Montesquieu. 

111. Right of every Man to a share of Happiness. 

The propagation of the ancient principle, " that every 
citizen has a right to the claim of the utmost amount of 
happiness being guaranteed him by the constitution, although 
very seldom acted upon by governments, has, in the latest 
epochs, provoked many evils. We will rather give up a 
portion of the little share of happiness allotted by Provi- 
dence to every man, than preserve it, or acquire it through 
the false doctrines of socialism, and their application. 

Where the land is the property of the nobility, and the 
countryman is merely his farmer, as is the case in England, 
the latter reaps, perhaps, as much prosperity from the land 
he cultivates, as the former (we only wish this were the case 
also in Ireland,) — prosperity to which the free trade system 
will never present a real obstacle. 

112. Landlords and Tenants. 
At the present time, the commoners would not assist the 
nobility against the king, as they did centuries back ; and 
by referring the reader to the former note, we may say, that 
the commoners are, principally in England, more attached 
to the royal dynasty than to their own landlords. 

113. Justice invested in the Nobility. 

" The nobility have likewise the administration of jus- 
tice ;" and even now, the House of Lords is considered the 
highest course of judicature in the land; and in it all 
appeals from other courts find their termination. To be a 
good judge, the title of baron seems to be indispensable, 
making almost the same impression upon the audience as the 
large curled wig. 

Montesquieu says, " qu'il ne suffit pas qu r il y ait dans une 
monarchie des rangs intermediates ; il faut encore un depot 
de lois. Ce depot ne peut etre que dans les corps politiques, 
qui annoncent les lois lorsqu'elles sont faites, et les rappel- 
lent lorsqu'on les oublie. L'ignorance naturelle a la no- 
blesse, son inattention, son mepris pour le gouvernement 
civil, exigent qu'il y ait un corps qui fasse sans cesse sortir 
les lois de la poussiere ou elles seraient ensevelies. Le con- 
seil du prince n'est pas un depot convenable. II est, par sa 
nature, le depot de la volonte momentance du prince qui 



300 NOTES, COMMMENTAEIES, ETC. 

execute, et non pas le depot des lois fondanientales. De 
plus, le conseil du monarque change sans cesse ; il n'est 
point permanent : il ne saurait etre nombreux ; il n'a point 
a un assez haut deger la confiance du peuple : il n'est done 
pas en etat de l r eclairer dans ies temps difficiles, ni de le 
ramener a 1'obeissance." 

The British legislation is in such a condition that it ought 
to have " un corps (d'armee) qui fasse sans cesse sortir les 
lois de la poussiere ou elles sont ensevelies" Two hundred and 
thirty-four Acts of Parliament are now inaccurately called 
obsolete, but no Act is obsolete until repealed, and any of 
these two hundred and thirty-four statutes may be put in 
force by any one choosing to take advantage of them. Seven 
hundred and eighty statutes have expired, and three hundred 
and seventy-six have been repealed, and supposed to have 
been repealed by implication, but of these it is doubtful 
whether one hundred and forty-two have been so repealed, 
or are still in force. No lawyer, therefore, nor any judge 
could tell at this moment whether these hundred and forty- 
two statutes are or are not the law of the realm. 

114. Knowledge of Judges and their privation of Property. 
When Haller wrote na'ivement " that the judges must be 
brought up in the knowledge of the laws, and in the research 
of principles for every case" he did not probably think of 
the equivocation of his words, which may be taken as irony 
upon English practice of justice, based on examples existing 
in a chaos of isolated acts and judgments, and not on a regu- 
lar code of laws as we mentioned in a former note. 

" The judge must not be settled in the county, wherein he 
must likewise not possess any property ;" we must accord- 
ingly presume, that if he judges in Middlesex, he has his 
country seat in Surrey, and only possesses a leasehold 
property, having too much respect for the above maxim as 
to possess a freehold estate, which would also come too ex- 
pensive, his income having only been more than doubled 
from 1792 till 1848. 

115. Prerogative of the King. 
If we are not mistaken, the East India Company share 
that prerogative with the king on some occasions. It would, 
however lead us too far from our subject to investigate the 
pro and con of that maxim. 



BOOK V. 301 

116. Opening and Dissolving of Parliament by the King. 

The day of the opening of that great convention is fixed 
by the king, then postponed once, twice, and often three 
times, till it really takes place with great solemnity and 
splendour. The crowned head reads aloud a skilfully com- 
posed harangue, the best quality of which is that it is not 
composed by himself; but he presides, in fact, full ten 
minutes over the powers of the realm, unless he prefers 
fulfilling that solemnity by proxy. 

On proroguing the Parliament, the formality is repeated, 
bating the reading of a speech ; but on dissolving it much 
less trouble is taken, as this is generally merely done by a 
decree. 

117. Degrees of Nobility in England. 

In Note 110 we have already spoken of the necessity 
of granting to the nobility the privileges of prolonging, by 
hereditary right, the prerogatives obtained by their merit. 
The British nobility possess five degrees, distinguished by 
the titles of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. The 
dignity of the duke is created by patent, cincture of the 
sword, mantle of state, imposition of a cap and coronet of 
gold, and a verge of gold placed in his hand. The sword is 
to remind him that he is bound to defend the crown and his 
kingdom in time of war ; the crown of gold is a counsellor 
to the state and kingdom in time of peace ; and the verge of 
gold is given to him as an emblem of his authority as a 
legislator. He is styled " his grace," and his eldest son, 
"lord marquis;" the younger sons only, "lord," and his 
daughters, "lady." 

The marquises and earls are created like the dukes, with 
slight differences in their ornaments and garments. All 
their sons are "lords" by the courtesy of England; and all 
their daughters, " ladies." The eldest son of an earl bears 
the title of " viscount," but the younger sons are but 
" esquires." 

Viscounts and barons are made by patents, and the lat- 
ter sometimes by writ, when called to the House of Lords. 
Their garments and crests differ somewhat from the former, 
and their children are without titles. 

The number of the lords temporal is indefinite, and may 
be increased at the pleasure of the crown. The sixteen 
peers chosen for Scotland hold their seats only during the 
term of each Parliament ; and the twenty-eight peers of 
Ireland are elected for life* 



302 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

The lords spiritual are the two archbishops and twenty - 
four bishops of England, and four of Ireland. The right by 
which the English bishops enjoy seats in the upper house 
arises from holding, or being supposed to hold, certain 
baronies under the crown. 

Two peers are sufficient to constitute a House of Lords ; 
but as forty are needed to form a House of Commons, 
we perceive that here quality replaces quantity. This 
may also account for their sessions being so very short in 
comparison to those of the commons, in which we are so 
often obliged to seek " der langen Rede kurzen Sin" 

Our impartiality compels us to quote the following words 
from Schomberg's " British Constitution :" — " It is but jus- 
tice to this noble house to say, that for a long series of years, 
it has exhibited a degree of liberality, justice, and patriotism, 
which has never been equalled by any assembly that ever 
existed. It has never refused to give up the privileges of 
its members, wherever it has been shown that they stood in 
the way of public justice. They have, by their own free 
consent, so far reduced these privileges, that they have now 
the enjoyment of no more than is necessary for the due 
maintenance of the constitutional design of their house." 

118. Ecclesiastical Power in the British Constitution. 
As the bishops alone possessed in Alfred's time some of 
the sciences, other and more weighty reasons have influenced 
them to preserve the ecclesiastical power in the British 
constitution; for, it will scarcely be denied that this great 
institution, the church of England, is a part of it, and as 
a national establishment it is a bulwark of no common 
power. " It is worse than trifling to say that it is a creature 
of the state, or a mere engine for carrying on the purposes 
of government. It is as much a part of the constitution as 
the House of Lords or Commons, or even the monarchy 
itself. It has been said that the state could go on without 
it : so it undoubtedly would — so it would, without the House 
of Lords, or even the monarchy. It would go on, because 
the course of society must proceed. But the question is — 
how would it go on ? The constitution of England would 
have lost an integral part of its subsistence. If it be 
inquired, what part in the constitution it sustains ? — let it 
be answered, the most beneficial, the most benevolent, the 
most powerful. The legislative power acts for the general 
welware, by the enactment of beneficial laws ; the judicial 
power, by the just application of them ; the executive, by 



BOOK V. 303 

duly and impartially enforcing them ; but the ecclesiastical 
power, by informing the understanding, enlightening the con- 
science, infusing the moral vigour of Christianity amongst 
the mass of the citizens, and training them as candidates 
for immortality. It is impossible to calculate the influence 
of such an institution upon all ranks of society : it acts as 
a consolidating principle: it binds together the different 
parts of the body politic : it is, indeed, the citadel of the 
constitution. If God be the originator, founder, and pre- 
server of society, it is the altar that sanctifies the temple of 
the social system : it strengthens the throne, nerves the arm 
of the magistrate, supports the laws, and blesses the people. 
It has been said that the church is allied to the state — an 
expression too often used without reflection. It is allied to 
the state in the same way that the monarchy is allied to 
the state, or the House of Commons : it is one of the ele- 
ments of the constitution : it has been argued, that her 
churches and emoluments belong of right to the Romanists, 
by whom they were built and endowed. With as much 
truth might it be said, that the throne belongs to them, St. 
Stephen's Chapel, and the House of Lords. All have passed 
through their hands, and for each we have had equally to 
contend. It has also been asked why the present church, to 
the exclusion of all others, has been chosen to fill up this 
part of our constitution ? It is answered — the present 
church has not been chosen : it is the oldest institution of 
the country : it existed before the monarchy, or the lords, 
or commons, or the Popish church : it is nearly coeval with 
Christianity itself. The church of England we may con- 
sider as the true apostolical episcopacy, which has devolved 
to us through successive generations, delivered, at the 
Reformation, from the abuses imposed upon it during a long 
season of darkness, and, in a great measure, restored to its 
pristine excellence and beauty. The present ecclesiastical 
establishment is, therefore, in its own proper place in the 
constitution. It is not there by preference : it has usurped 
no other church : it is not there by permission nor by com- 
pulsion: it is its own witness — its own legitimatizer : it has 
fulfilled and is now fulfilling the duties of its function in the 
constitution, if not with all the efficiency which might be 
expected from its resources, yet with admirable consistency 
and advantage to the community. Its Liturgy is above all 
human praise; and, its enemies being judges, is nearly a 
perfect composition. But, whilst we hold that the church 
of England is the national church by ancient prescription 



304 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

and right, yet, as adopted and authorized by the state as the 
legal organ for the administration of religion, it may be 
necessary, in a work of this kind, to lay down the argument 
on which such authority is exercised by the state. The end 
of government is to secure the existence of the body politic 
— to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who comprise 
it, with the power of enjoying, in safety and tranquillity, 
their social rights and the blessings of conventional exist- 
ence. This end government effects, first, directly — by pro- 
viding for the appointment and compensation of public 
officers in all departments, and for the making and adminis- 
tering of such laws as bear immediately upon personal 
security, liberty, and property; and, secondly, indirectly — 
by conducting such operations and appointing such insti- 
tutions as shall have a tendency to make men better citizens : 
facilitate the enjoyment of their rights and property, extend 
the means of intellectual acquirements, and secure their 
social intercourse and happiness." 

The above is quoted from Dr. Schoraberg's "British 
Constitution;" but it would lead us too far to enter further 
into the arguments of the reverend author for maintaining 
that superior power. 

Whether that superior power should be maintained at so 
extraordinary an expense by the British nation, we will not 
take upon ourselves to decide, but content ourselves with 
some lines from a work by Benjamin Flower, on the French 
constitution, in which the necessity of a reformation in the 
church and state is explained : — 

" The principle articles which we find in the constitution, 
respecting the church, are those which relate to the property, 
by which it has been hitherto supported, and to that pro- 
perty by which it is to be supported in future. 

" Property, destined to the expense of worship, and to all 
services of public utility, belongs to the nation, and shall at 
all times be at its disposal. The salaries of the ministers of 
the Catholic religion, who are paid, preserved, elected, or 
named in virtue of the decrees of the National Constituent 
Assembly, form a part of the national debt. 

"To those whose minds are not tainted with prejudice, 
little need be said to prove the justice of the National 
Assembly on this occasion. If the legislative power of any 
country forms a church establishment, if the ministers of 
that establishment are paid like other servants of the public, 
it follows of course, that the same legislative power has the 
absolute right to all the public property by which the church 



BOOK V. 305 

is at any time maintained. As this has been disputed, and 
as the assembly have been much reviled for thus declaring 
all church property the property of the nation, it may not 
be amiss if we inquire a little into the nature of ecclesi- 
astical possessions ; which inquiry may, perhaps, enable us 
properly to understand the subject. 

" With regard to the property of the church of France, 
or any other established church, it may be divided into two 
classes: the first comprises that part which is immediately 
paid by the public ; such as tithes, lands, or estates of any 
kind, appropriated by the supreme power for the main- 
tenance of the said establishment. As to all this species of 
property, surely no one can dispute that the same power 
which gave, has a right to resume it. The clergy in all 
countries, have done, it is to be hoped, with the nonsense of 
Jus Divinum, and that they are too wise to talk of inherent 
right, or to claim any public property, without the express 
and declared permission of the government they are under. 
All property granted by the supreme power, for the support 
of any public body of men, may be regulated, or resumed, 
just as circumstances render eligible, and no one can with 
justice complain. All religious establishments are supposed 
to be formed and continued for the benefit of the people; 
and that power which has a right to form them, has the 
right in all respects to regulate them, so that they may best 
answer the grand end proposed. 

" The other species of property by which the church has 
been supported is: gifts or grants from individuals, either 
in their lifetime, or by bequest after their death. I shall 
not here inquire (although it may be worth the inquiry) 
how this property has been in different ages and countries 
acquired. Everybody knoAvs what an admirable contri- 
vance the religion of Rome has been for picking of pockets, 
and for gulling people out of their estates, to the great loss 
of their families and relatives. Had it not been for our 
Statute of Mortmain, it was thought the clergy would have 
shortly been in possession of the greater part of the landed 
property in the kingdom. Whatever methods were made 
use of to compel men to part with their substance, I will 
venture to maintain that this species of property from the 
moment it was acquired by the church, was public property 
to all intents and purposes, and that it mingled with the 
general mass appropriated to one and the same end." 

Montesquieu acknowledges the benefit of the power of 
religion in the constitution of the state, and principally in 



306 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

despotic states, in the following words : — " II y a pourtant 
une chose que Ton peut quelquefois opposer a la volont£ 
du prince : c'est la religion. On abandonnera son pere, on 
le tuera meine si le prince l'ordonne mais on ne boira pas de 
vin s'il le veut et s'U l'ordonne. Les lois de la religion sont 
d'un precepte superieur, parce qu'elles sont donnes sur la 
tete du prince comme sur celle des sujets. Mais, quant au 
droit naturel, il n'en est pas de meme : le prince est suppose 
n'etre plus un homme." 

The same author also pretends that the laws of religion 
correct the inconveniences of the political constitution. He 
says : — " Ainsi lorsque l'etat est souvent agite par des guerres 
civiles la religion fera beaucoup si elle etablit que quelques 
parties de cet £tat restent toujours en paix;" this he proves 
by examples of the customs of different countries ; of the 
Greeks, Japanese, Arabian tribes, ancient Germans, &c. ; and 
further proves that the laws of religion have had the effect 
of civic laws, before these were established. He next proves 
that the terrible laws and actions of the Spanish inquisition 
had their useful side in moderating the power of the despot 
of that country : — " Autant que le pouvoir du clerge est 
dangereux dans une republique, autant est il convenable 
dans une monarchic, surtout dans celles qui vont au des- 
potisme. Ou en seraient l'Espagne et le Portugal depuis 
la perte de leur lois, sans ce pouvoir qui arrete seul la 
puissance arbitraire? Barriere toujours bonne lorqu'il n'y 
en a point d' autre: car, comme le despotisme cause a la 
nature humaine des maux effroyables, le mal meme qui le 
limite est un bien." 

119. Occupations of the Nobility. 
It will, however, be found that the one does not prevent 
the other, since hunting, steeple chases, and races, (which 
probably did not all exist in Alfred's time,) form a pro- 
minent part of the occupations of the nobles. These public 
diversions have been preserved, and almost encouraged by 
government, in the political point of view, of favouring the 
rearing of horses, and movement of money on those days. 
They probably have no idea of introducing the ancient tour- 
naments, with the heavy-mailed knight, in place of the 
races and far-famed light jockeys. They have also rather 
overlooked the inconsequence of prohibiting lotteries, and 
permitting sweeps, &c. of the abuses of which we have many 
examples. The best side of the races is the fraternizing of 
many members of the aristocracy with the lower standing 



BOOK V. 307 

class in horse traffic, although produced by motives of inte- 
rest. This amalgamation may be but momentary, but even 
then it proves useful to society. 

" Si le faste et la splendeur qui environnent les rois font 
une partie de leur puissance, la modestie et la simplicite des 
manieres font la force des nobles aristocratiques. Quand ils 
n'affectent aucune distinction quand ils se confondent avec 
le peuple, quand ils sont vetus comme lui, quand ils lui 
font partager tous leurs plaisirs, il oublie sa faiblesse." — 
Montesquieu. 
These principles are followed a la lettre, 8fgT perrot-footmen, 

120. Parliamentary Eloquence. 

Eloquence has been practised in great perfection in modern 
times, and principally in the British parliament ; and as the 
memory of the great orators is engraved in every heart, it 
would be quite superfluous to mention their names. The 
agitated time of the French revolution of '89 has also pro- 
duced a number of clever orators ; but the passionate cha- 
racter of their speeches has contributed to a greater extent 
to mislead the auditors, than to produce sound and reason- 
able principles or results. But in the present century, some 
orators of the French Chamber of Deputies have even sur- 
passed those of the British parliament. In our opinion, 
France possesses at present but one clever orator ; he con- 
vinces by sound reasons and superior eloquence whenever he 
wishes to do so ; and be it said to his glory, he has had the 
courage, even in the present year, of being the first to defend 
moderation, in a time when it was difficult to render the 
voice of reason audible. 

English orators prefer to convince by statistical argu- 
ments, than by clear and sound grounds, and to delude the 
auditors by a number of figures and returns, often erroneous. 
Like the French ex-minister, whom we have alluded to above, 
there is likewise one in England, represented on the right 
side of our vignette, who also possesses these oratorial quali- 
ties, and many more than the French ex-minister. He 
speaks now very seldom ; but when he does, conviction 
is the result of his discourse. He is now in a passive state, 
but the power which he has preserved is even greater 
than that of the active leaders of the rudder of the state. 

As an example of a convincing harangue, we quote that 
of Sir Francis Burdett, addressed to his electors in May 
1837, which we think it our duty to give in its full extent. 

11 1 always was a devoted supporter of the constitution of 
England, from the deepest conviction that there never was 



308 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

a system of government so admirably balanced as it is — so 
excellently tempered in every part — so harmoniously com- 
bining the advantages of every species of government. Many 
systems of government, it is true, have some particular fea- 
ture to recommend them; but none of them have that coun- 
terbalancing power peculiar to our happy constitution : they 
all have some drawback which renders them inferior to our 
system of government. Our forefathers, in their prudence, 
courage, and good sense, erected for us a political fabric of 
that high degree of perfection which has been considered by 
the most learned of our philosophers* and statesmen as being 
the perfection of human policy, but which they considered 
so difficult of attainment as to be looked upon more as an 
agreeable dream than of national practicability ; and which, 
if indeed attainable, could be of no duration. Now, in this 
great country, not only has such a system of government 
been carried out, but it has existed among us for six hun- 
dred years. I admit that we had, as our forefathers had, 
grievances which had grown up, and which required a 
remedy : we had the grievance of an imperfect represen- 
tation in the House of Commons — boroughs were in the 
gift of individuals who trafficked in them : the remedy for 
this was a great but still a definite object. It did not involve 
anything by which all the great and glorious institutions of 
this country were to be subverted ; but had in view a posi- 
tive good, and that good within the limits of the constitution, 
which, indeed, it had in view to preserve and hand down, in 
all its excellence, and with all its blessings, to posterity, and 
(as I could wish) to all eternity. I was for that reform. 
We have attained this great end, and yet there are those who 
are still crying out for further reform. Their language is 
still ' Reform, reform, reform ! ' What, have we had no 
reform? Was the measure of which I speak no reform ? It 
appears to me that every reasonable man would say, ' Let 
us, at least, have a little respite after this — let us, after the 
excitement produced in the course of a protracted struggle 
for reform, have a little breathing time, and have the pru- 
dence to see how it may be practically applied to the reme- 
dying of the abuses, for the correction of which it was 
introduced.' In explanation of my feelings on this ground, 
it is quite unnecessary for me to state that I am for the 
monarchical form of government, in preference to the rule 
of an elective council, or the control of a chief magistrate. 
The wisest of men have left it to us as the result of their 
experience, and the history of elective government confirms- 
* And also by those of other countries. 



BOOK V. 309 

it, that it is better for the public tranquillity and the en- 
during peace of the state, that the highest office of the 
country should not be the object of periodical contention. 
You hear people frequently talk of the liberty of the United 
States of America; but I say that the people of that country 
do not possess anything like that freedom and independence 
of mind, that toleration and freedom of action, which we 
enjoy in this country. For here there is no man, however 
humble he may be, who may not perform any political act 
not prescribed by the law as prejudicial to his fellow man. 
As an example of the excellence of our institutions, and the 
state of civilization in this country, I would direct your at- 
tention to the gentleman who has come forward as the hero 
of the radical party, so called, and the advocate of the 
objects which they have in view, and which they have the 
effrontery to avow as well, whose co-operation ministers have 
received with compliance, and, I might add, with thankful- 
ness. I do not know whether that gentleman's father was 
the great coach-master ; but if he was, he could not have a 
better-hearted man for a father. (An elector observed that 
the person alluded to was Mr. Leader's grandfather.) His 
grandfather ! I have no doubt that the grandson is perfectly 
well educated, and fit for any station ; indeed he has already 
filled the highest station to which an Englishman can aspire 
— that of a representative of the people ; and the career of a 
laudable ambition is as open to him as the proudest noble of 
the country. This is the advantage of being an Englishman, 
and living under our much-calumniated system of govern- 
ment ; and yet this advantage is what could not happen in 
any other country ; but I am proud to say that instances of 
this nature happen every day in this free country. One of 
the greatest men now in England, the leading man in the 
House of Commons, Sir Robert Peel, is another example of 
what can be effected by great talents, united with activity 
and perseverance ; and, when people talk of the aristocracy 
monopolizing all the honours of the country, it is so much 
stuff and nonsence. When, I ask, did the English aris- 
tocracy evince fastidiousness, or disdain — or, indeed, when 
have they refused to associate themselves familiarly with 
talented and deserving men of humble descent upon such 
occasions ? There is nothing mischievous in the privileges of 
the aristocracy: if they have privileges, they were instituted 
for the benefit of the people at large, and they are necessary 
to, and congenial with, an enlightened, a free, and liberal 
government. I therefore maintain that the House of Lords, 



310 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

and their independence and privileges, should be as dear to 
every friend of England, as are freedom of action and im- 
punity in the expression of opinion in the House of Com- 
mons ; and, for my part, I cannot conceive a system of 
tyranny more terrible than that which will ensue, if the 
House of Commons had the power and the will to subvert 
the privileges of the House of Lords. 

" It has also of late been much the fashion to asperse 
another venerable institution — that of the national Church 
of England. Now, I do not believe that so wise, so good, 
and so liberal a system of religious government, and so free 
in its results, exists on the face of the earth ; nor is there 
another set of men in the aggregate — for here and there, as 
in every other community, bad members will be found — 
equally numerous, pious, learned, moral, kind, and benevo- 
lent as the clergy of this country. It is a blessing to the 
country that so many members of that sacred order are 
devoted to a country life ; for they impart a blessing to the 
land — not interfering with any, but assisting the poor with 
the aids of charity and religious consolation, and delighting 
the rich by refined companionship and good instruction. I 
do not know a greater blessing in the country than that 
derived from the system of the Church of England. Many 
persons cast an envious eye on the wealth of the church. 
The church does not appear to me to be over-wealthy ; but 
I look upon the wealth of the clergy as a fund belonging to 
the poorest peasant in England, if he manifest a peculiar 
talent for learning, a disposition for liberal acquirements, 
and an intellect beyond the common run, might derive the 
best education. This is another advantage attributable to 
the pious liberality of our forefathers. I could cite many 
instances in illustration of this fact, showing how children of 
the humblest origin have, by good conduct and attainments, 
raised themselves to the highest stations, after having been 
educated out of the wealthy endowments of the established 
church. I should like to know how much better the people 
would be if the wealth of the church were administered by 
any other body? A great deal has been said about the 
self-interestedness of the clergy. But surely they must, as 
well as other men, take care of their families. They do not 
put up for that exuberancy of virtue which the Roman 
Catholic priests profess ; but they spend a great part of 
their income in hospitality and charity — advancing the pro- 
gress of science, and encouraging the progress of literature, 
in several ways. There may be abuses in the church, but 



BOOK IV. 311 

whatever the abuses are they do not harm the people. If 
the people think that a clergyman can live upon £200 a 
year, reading prayers every Sunday, visiting amongst the 
poor, and dwelling in a cottage, they are much mistaken. 
A clergyman is obliged to fill a certain station, which he 
never could sustain out of that scanty income. I do not see 
any good that can result out of so-called church reforma- 
tion. I do not see what good it has done in Ireland. I am 
nothing — Mr. Leader is nothing — we are as but straws ; but 
if the principle which I struggle for should be victorious, 
you will have achieved a great triumph for the English 
constitution, and the glorious institutions of the country." 

Some of the orator's remarks can only be applied to his 
own time, but others to ours also. 

121. Vide Notes 92 and 93. 

122. Members of Society are not all alike. 
Every man in society abdicates the right of being his own 
governor ; he abandons even the right of self-defence, the 
first law of nature, to the leader or king whom he has 
selected. It matters not whether it be a temporary general, 
or an hereditary king, to whom he gives up the state of 
equality wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, 
and none have a greater share than another; but like at 
Rome or at Sparta, the power given to the general ceases 
after the campaign is over. 

123. General Happiness. 

The maxim of all men having the same right to happiness, 
founded on the law of nature, has produced great evils from 
its false application by the socialists ; for the idle cannot 
pretend to the same share of happiness as the industrious ; 
and when Locke said, that " Creatures of the same specie and 
rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, 
and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one 
amongst another, without subordination or subjection;" he at 
the same time made it evident that this quality of men by 
nature forms the foundation of their obligation to mutual 
love, and the duties that they owe one another, from whence 
is derived the great maxims of justice and charity. This is 
more clearly expressed by Hooker in the following words : — 

" The like natural inducement hath brought men to know 
that it is no less their duty to love others than themselves, 
for seeing those things which are equal, must needs all have 



312 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

one measure ; if I cannot but wish to receive good, even as 
much at every man's hands, as any man can wish unto his 
own soul, how should I look to have any part of my desire 
herein satisfied, unless myself be careful to satisfy the like 
desire, which is undoubtedly in other men. We all being 
of one and the same nature ; to have anything offered them 
repugnant to this desire, must needs, in all respects, grieve 
them as much as me, so that if I do harm, I must look to 
suffer, there being no reason that others should show greater 
measure of love to me, than they have by me showed unto 
them ; my desire therefore to be loved of my equals in 
nature, as much as possible may be, imposeth upon me a 
natural duty of bearing to themward fully the like affec- 
tion ; from which relation of equality between ourselves and 
them, that are as ourselves, what several rules and canons, 
natural reason hath drawn for direction of life, no man is 
ignorant." — Eccl. Pol. lib. i. 

" A state must be formed to make as many as possible 
happy." This is rather difficult; and mostly so in exten- 
sive realms. The example that we have given of the little 
republic of Hamburg cannot be easily imitated in great 
monarchies, for nature seems very steril in producing men 
capable of preserving such general happiness; but the 
question is, what do we really understand by happiness ? Is 
it the possession of large estates, considerable stocks, vain 
pleasures, &c. ; or, the acquirement of the necessities of life 
by constant labour and exertion, and fulfilment of our duty ? 
In our opinion, those who bear the latter fate are as happy 
and more so than the former, whom they fatten by the 
sweat of their brow, and who from their spleen are generally 
the most unhappy of the two. In this point of view, Eng- 
land surpasses every other country in the world, for no- 
where else is there a population so laborious, and who fulfil 
their duty to their families and the state to such a degree. 
And if education could reduce the number of idlers and 
criminals, and their expenses were brought to a level with 
their income by an improved national economy, England 
would in reality be the happiest country in the world. 

124. Does a Monarch enjoy perfect Happiness ? 
We cannot understand why Haller, as a philosopher, 
could commit such an error as to think for one moment that 
a monarch can enjoy perfect happiness. This he can only 
after he has returned to private life, and even then we 
cannot believe that he can be compared to a sage who has 



BOOK V. 313 

renounced all terrestrial enjoyments. No man enjoys per- 
fect happiness, and least of all a monarch ; and we doubt 
whether, with all his virtues, even Alfred enjoyed it; for 
in doing good our ardent desire of doing more than is within 
our power is continually aroused; certainly it does not appear 
to be the destination of man to enjoy perfect happiness. 

124a. Dignities of the State conferred on Children. 
We have, in a former note, defended the rights of the 
aristocracy, and of their privileges by birth ; but never 
would we go so far as to defend the ridicule and flattery of 
appointing a child the governor of a province, or an admiral. 
In a German country, which was not so fortunate as to 
possess a constitution until 1848, every prince began his 
military career as a common soldier, and only acquired 
higher grades by advancement. 

125. Men are not all alike. 
The truth of this thesis has been sufficiently proved by 
philosophers of all times, and it was a folly of the present 
epoch that a class of men pretended the contrary. As the 
qualities and capacities of all men are not alike, we cannot 
allot them all the same advantages. Men found in wilder- 
nesses, even under our climate, were not intellectual enough 
to understand not only human sounds, but even signs, being 
as shy as they were ferocious. Can we pretend that such 
beings are equal to civilized men ?* 

126. Bomhastical Eloquence. 
In Note 120, we have acknowledged the advantages of 
eloquence; but the eloquence of statesmen, based on prin- 
ciples and realities, cannot be compared to that which 
merely contains pomp of words, beautiful sentences, com- 
posed of poetical fiction, and Machiavelian thesis, as were 
distributed in 1848 by the president of a republic, whose 
political career was but of short duration. 

127. Men rising from common occupations to high digraties. 
We perceive here that our Swiss author belongs to the 
aristocracy, and that this was written before the French 
revolution of '89. Modern times have proved the contrary; 
and, not to cite many examples, we will only mention Joseph 
Hume, who was "not prepared by education for politics," 

• Proved by the savage who was found in the forest of Hanover, and 
brought to England during the reign of George I. 
P 



314 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

but has " acquired experience from practice," and is a very 
useful defender of the people's liberties, notwithstanding his 
unsuccessful efforts and rhetorical blunders. 

127a. 
The word "Daeia" has here been incorrectly spelt "Datia." 
We beg the reader will excuse, if in a few instances, such 
words have escaped the attention of the reviser. 

128. Despotism of the People the worst Tyranny. 
In democracies the people are, according to Montesquieu, 
k 'A certain egard le monarque a certain autre le sujet;" but if 
the people forget that both essential qualities must at all 
times be amalgamated, and will play the sovereign, they are 
the worst despots that can be imagined ; for their unbounded 
will, as has been proved by recent events, produces even 
more evil than that of the worst Koman emperors, not 
excluding Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Otho, Vitellius, Corn- 
modus, Heliogabalus, and Caracalla. 

129. " Those are real Tyrants who consider their will as the 
only existing Law" 
Tyranny has been practised by despots, in republics, where 
the aristocracy prevailed, and in democracies, where the 
people overcame every power. But there is another tyranny 
which we consider no better, but rather worse than these, 
and that is the tyranny over public opinion, which in former 
times was practised by the clergy, and principally by the 
Jesuits, and in modern times by public papers. The power 
of the press is really greater than any other ; and although 
it may be checked by newspapers of other tendencies and 
opinions, government possesses too many means of influencing 
one or two of the leading papers, thereby obliging the public 
to share their opinion almost reluctantly. 

There is one such a paper — the only one in the world — 
which possesses greater power than either the British govern- 
ment, the upper or lower house, or any monarch, republic, 
or even standing army on the globe. Impartiality calls upon 
us to acknowledge that the independence of that paper, and 
its immense power, are in most instances employed to defend 
right, attack injustice, and censure the slightest grievance 
that may threaten society; but truth at the same time forces 
us to state that it too often abuses its power, and employs 
it to overwhelm every opinion contrary to its own design. 
If we look upon it as a government paper only, its course 



BOOK Y. 315 

may be accounted for; but as it takes the appearance of 
standing above the government, and having only the general 
welfare in view, it is the more to be blamed, as its influence 
is greater ; for it is below its dignity to deafen the ears of 
the public to truth, and to weaken the sounds of good reason 
by sarcasm and personality, which it is not their place to be 
in. If any individual be so unfortunate as to have offended 
that power which creeps in the dark, and can only be recog- 
nized by the flashes which it darts against its opponents, it 
revenges itself most cruelly, and does not cease until it has 
brought him so low, that he can never more rise. It is 
that which we call " Tyranny of the Press," and the more 
so since not only governmental but personal influence can 
operate upon this power, which " vend son sceptre au poids" 
What good could such a powerful institution not produce, 
if, instead of its Machiavelian principles, it only listened to 
those of real patriotism, right, and humanity ? 

130. The King and the People. 
The sense of the words in italics is but too often forgotten 
or disregarded by the courtiers and public officers. Every one 
of them should have them engraved on a plate on his breast, 
or his arm. In the words " Dieu et mon droit,'''' the comma is 
omitted. No man can object to a monarch using this device, 
as implying to adore God and defend his right ; but they 
should not be united, because the monarch has obtained his 
right from the nation. 

131. Ultra-conservatives. 

132. "Every Countryman should work for himself." 
It is eighty years since those words were written by our 
German author. What would the condition of Ireland now 
be had they been appreciated by the Irish landlords and the 
legislators of Great Britain ? There is nothing new in them, 
and the thesis or principle is universally known, and was 
probably originally written more for Germany than for 
England. The estate holders in Germany and other coun- 
tries have since become enlightened enough to give up a 
part of their privileges, and increase their incomes by 
dividing their property. The same was done in France, and 
it is to be regretted that, from the blindness of the Irish, who 
have obstinately resisted every kind of amelioration, and 
lowered their country to such a degree, the number of crimi- 
nals is altogether disproportionate to that of the inhabitants. 
p 2 



316 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

133. Law of Primogeniture. 
Haller is here more liberal in his views than Montesquieu, 
who says that — " Les lois doivent ote entre les nobles, afin 
que, par le partage continuel de succession, les fortunes se 
remettent toujours dans l'egaliteV But this he only applies 
to the aristocracy of a republic like Venice, &c. But 
of monarchical governments, he says : — " On peut permettre 
de laisser la plus grande partie de ses biens a un seul de ses 
enfans : cette permission n'est meme bonne que la." We 
will not take upon ourselves to decide this question, — "dans 
une nation ou la republique se cache sous la forme d'une 
monarchic" 

134. Vide Note 114. 

135. Leagues may be considered as little States in the 
Realm. 
This occurred in Alfred's time, and the physical powers 
of cities and boroughs were employed to attain that purpose. 
The same still exists, excepting that other means are 
applied, and principally that of influencing the public 
opinion ; for, cotton leagues, shipping leagues, agricultural 
leagues, chartist, and other leagues form themselves now as 
then, and combat for their private interests, under pretence 
of the general welfare. 

136. Reformation should be pursued by degrees. 
All men who have moderated their opinion by study and 
experience will think, like Alfred, that "most evils should 
not be removed by a strong remedy;" and that "only a long 
series of mild measures are necessary to improve the 
state, without putting it in inevitable danger." But the 
high officers of government do not, for the most part, remain 
long enough in their functions to execute these gradual 
improvements ; even the British minister, whom we alluded to 
in Note 120, had a too short political existence for his efforts 
to be justly appreciated ; his successors do not appear to 
possess sufficient energy, but totter in the execution of their 
plans, (if they have any,) and notwithstanding their wishes 
of doing all parties justice, often do too much, and often too 
little. 

137. French Deputies under the last Government. 
We need hardly observe in what manner a portion of the 
French deputies were mis-used under the last French 



BOOK V. 317 

monarchy, and were made tools of oppression, instead of 
being intercessors for the people. 

138. Fertile Lands changed into Deserts. 
It would be doubting the reader's capacities to cite 
examples of this. 

139. Alfred's Registration of Acres. 
We must here excuse an error which occurred in the 
fourth line, page 132, herds having been written for hides. 
This measure of ground is calculated by Spelman as one 
hundred acres, and by Littleton otherwise. According to 
the former, the space is so great, that it could not be ploughed 
in less than one year. According to the latter, it was a space 
of land that produced enough to nourish a noble family with 
their attendants. 

140. Population of Alfred's Dominions. 
The figure of six thousand souls, which Haller mentions as 
having lived in England in Alfred's time, seems rather small, 
and may be subjected to correction, even if we admit Al- 
fred's realm to have then been only composed of the counties 
known under the appellation of Wessex. 

141. Origin of Annual Parliamentary Sessions. 
This appears to have been the origin of the annual 
sessions of parliament in the autumn ; but the custom has 
since been for preparatory business alone to be done in par- 
liament at such epochs, unless the sittings were, as they now 
are, postponed to the month of January. 

142. Voluntary Gifts and Taxes. 

Voluntary gifts to the crown have taken place both in an- 
ient and modern times. All good-hearted people are ready 
to make, at any moment, a sacrifice, when they behold the 
country in danger. We find examples of this as far back as 
the time of the Carthaginians : — 

" In the third Punian war, the Romans claimed all the 
ships that the Carthaginians had built since the last peace, 
under pretence of an armament destined for a breach of 
peace. They gave them up, and saw them burnt before their 
own eyes. The Romans then ordered them to quit the coast, 
and to build a new town in the interior of the country, and 
far from the sea. 

" The Carthaginians upon receiving this information were 



318 NOTES, COMMENT ARIES, ETC. 

struck with terror; but, rather than accede to this, they 
unanimously declared themselves for war, with the exception 
of one of the Suffetians, who was stoned to death. They 
then resolved to bring all wooden moveables, even furniture 
and huts, to the docks, to build a new fleet. All the gold 
and silver, the metal of the grandees, the sepulchral orna- 
ments of magistrates and heroes, the sacred vessels, the 
treasures of the temples, the ploughs, scythes, and all spare- 
able implements were melted and cast into weapons. The 
whole feminine sex cut off their hair to twist into cords and 
ropes. All the inhabitants, without regard to rank, age, or 
sex, contributed every thing in their power to defend their 
old city." — The Ship : its Origin and Progress. 

Many instances of similar generosity in modern times, 
and even the latest epochs, might be cited from the English 
and other nations, and especially in Prussia in 1813, to free 
Germany from the French yoke ; and in Paris after the revo- 
lution of 1 848. It is lamentable that these voluntary gifts are 
often mis-used ; but such is the lot of all gifts and contribu- 
tions, whether voluntary or enforced. When society shall 
have attained such perfection that the amount of all revenues 
may be considered as well employed, we may indeed pre- 
tend to have reached the pinnacle of civilization. At present 
the budget presents heavy figures, unbalanced by light argu- 
ments, and against which all objections are regarded as 
chicanery of the opposition ; the questions addressed to the 
leaders of the state, concerning these expenses, are but 
vaguely argued. The Chinese, sauvent mieux les apparences, 
and if taxes are there most strictly enforced, in the four- 
teenth maxim of the Emperor Kang-he, (in which he recom- 
mends to his subjects " to complete the payment of the taxes, 
in order to prevent frequent urgency ;") he gives explanatory 
reasons of the destination of the taxes, namely : " for the 
expenses of the salaries of the mandarins, that they may rule 
our people ; to pay the army, that they may protect our peo- 
ple ; of preparing for years of scarcity, that our people may 
be fed ; as these are all collected from the empire, so they 
are all employed for its use. How then can it be supposed 
that the granaries and treasury of the sovereign are intended 
to injure the people that he may nourish himself? Since our 
dynasty established the tripod until now, the proportions of 
the revenue have been fixed by an universally approved 
statute ; and all the other unjust items have been completely 
cancelled : a thread or a hair too much is not demanded 
from the people." 



BOOK V. 319 

We will not take trop a la lettre this last promise ; but still 
find it very condescending of a Chinese despot to express 
himself in such terms. Our European governors do not 
trouble themselves so far, but leave us blindly to believe 
that the revenue of all taxes are well employed. A rule of 
Montesquieu on taxes, "qu'on peut lever les tribus plus 
forts a proportion de la liberte du sujet," is exactly followed 
in England ; and as freedom is very dear to every English 
heart, we do not mind it so much if it costs a little dear. 
This spirited author afterwards confirms that maxim as 
follows : — " II y a dans les etats moderes un dedomagement 
pour la pesanteure des tribus : c'est la liberte. II y a dans 
les etats despotiques un equivalent pour la liberte : c'est la 
modicite des tribus."* 

143. Assent to the Annual Budget. 
We refer the reader to the preceding note, having only to 
add, that besides some few exceptions of the opposition, the 
remainder nicken mit dem Kopfe und sagen "„/«." 

Legion of Officers for collecting Taxes. 

Haller speaks here of indirect duties and their faults, the 
opinions on which are divided everywhere. Most of the 
inhabitants of all countries are inclined towards the philan- 
thropical system, and believe it would be better for every 
one to bear a heavy but direct burthen ; for if all hands take 
up the weight at once, although one may receive a greater 
and another a lesser share, and the whole weight is the same, 
yet each thinks the burthen lighter. 

In England the partizans of each opinion are directly 
opposed by free trade and protectionists. We, the author, 
incline neither to the one nor the other side ; we hate, in- 
deed, the degrading vexations of the customs' officers in all 
countries, and really think that their power ought to be con- 
siderably checked, and the duties for the most part lessened, 
or even abolished, yet our love for truth and impartiality 
forbids us to admit the following maxims of Montesquieu, 
which require the greatest attention, and form a considerable 
weight in the scale on the side of the opponents of free 
trade : — " L'impot par tete est plus nature! a la servitude ; 
l'impot sur la marchandise est plus naturel a la liberte, 
parce qu'il se rapporte d'une maniere moin directe a la 
personne." He further says, that in despotic governments 

* In Russia the taxes were very moderate, but they have been increased 
since the despotism has been somewhat moderated. 



320 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

the prince grants lands to his military and his officers, 
because he imposes but light taxes. We will pass over this 
portion, and come to his other remark, which seems to us 
of the greatest import. " Le tribut naturel au gouverne- 
ment modere est l'impot sur les marchandises. Cet impot 
etant reellement pay6 par l'acheteur, quoique le marchand 
l'avance est un pret que le marchand a deja fait a l'acheteur: 
ainsi il faut regarder le negociant et comme le debiteur 
general de l'etat, et comme le creancier de tous les par- 
ticuliers. II avance a l'etat le droit que l'acheteur lui 
payera quelque jour; et il a paye, pour l'acheteur, le droit 
qu'il a paye pour la marchandise. On sent done que plus 
le gouvernement est modere\ que plus l'esprit de liberte 
regne, que plus les fortunes ont de surety, plus il est facile 
au marchand d'avancera l'etat, et de preter au particulier 
des droits considerables. En Angleterre, un marchand prete 
reellement a l'etat cinquante ou soixante livres sterling a 
chaque tonneau de vin qu' il recoit. Quel est le marchand 
qui oserait faire une chose de cette espece dans un pays 
gouverne" comme la Turquie ? et, quand il l'oserait faire, 
comment le pourrait il, avec une fortune suspecte, incer- 
taine, ruinee ? " 

We cannot deny that the above maxim, although written 
a hundred years ago, contains much truth ; but the question 
is, whether it be really applicable to our time ? We observe 
that it is a forced and very expensive loan from merchants 
to government, all kinds of loans bear something pernicious 
with them, but this, we think, more than any, from the 
present manner of levying the duties, from the expense of 
a " legion of officers," and from the small degree of bonne 
foi trusted to the payers of these taxes. 

When Montesquieu wrote these lines, he was probably 
far from supposing that towns would be connected, and 
the vast distances reduced, by means of railways and steam 
navigation, and thus many obstacles to the human enjoy- 
ment of the produce of the globe are removed. Whether 
such obstacles are favourable to trade in general or not, is a 
question already decided by economists and men of expe- 
rience; and if the old school pretends that commerce is 
favoured by secrecy and obstacles, (as fishing in troubled 
water,) and that Mercury, its patron, protects it as being 
placed between bonne foi and fraud ; we have now a better 
opinion of it, and have experienced that publicity and the 
removal of obstacles do not injure trade so much as con- 
servatives fear. Many objections have been made to the 



BOOK V. 321 

cheapness which free trade and abundance produces, and a 
political one, lately suggested by a talented writer, that " in 
a heavily taxed country a general rise in price must be a 
public benefit, and a fall in price a public calamity," requires 
also some attention : " The value of the annual produce of 
the United Kingdom, including everything raised or manu- 
factured by our twenty-nine millions of people, has been 
recently estimated to amount to about £448,000,000. 
Assuming our revenue, with all the costs of collection, to 
be £56,000,000 — and a lower sum cannot suffice for the 
necessities of the country — then one-eighth of the whole 
national produce is swept into the imperial exchequer. 
But, suppose such a general rise of prices to take place, 
as that the national produce, instead of being worth 
£448,000,000 in money value, became worth double that 
sum ; then, as the charge of taxation remained fixed, 
only one sixteenth part of the produce raised by our 
toiling millions would go into the exchequer, instead of 
one-eighth. On the other hand, suppose that, by a general 
fall of prices, the whole annual produce of the country 
only realized £224,000,000 in money value, then the 
the £56,000,000 of taxation would be equal to one- 
fourth of it. Thus, the per centage charge of taxation 
becomes heavier as prices decline, and lighter as prices 
advance." 

Most of the French papers also pretend, that it is a 
sound policy to raise legislatively the prices of all things by 
the operations of the tariffs ; but tariffs only raise the prices 
of things because they diminish the quantity offered in the 
market; and ought abundance, indeed, to be dreaded and 
scarcely to be desired? We shall try to trace this illusion to 
its source. " It is seen that a man becomes rich in propor- 
tion as he draws a greater profit from his work, that is to 
say, according as he sells at a higher price. He sells at a 
higher price, in proportion to the rarity or scarcity of the 
kind of product which is the object of his industry. Hence 
it is concluded that, with regard to him at least, scarcity 
enriches him. Applying successively that reasoning to all 
manufacturers and producers, the theory of scarcity is 
deduced. Hence we pass to the application; and, in order 
to favour all classes of producers, dearness is artificially 
excited, the scarcity of everything is brought about by pro- 
hibition, restriction, the abolition of machines, and other 
analogous means. The same reason may be pursued in the 
case of abundance. It is observed, that when any particular 
p3 



322 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

produce abounds, it is sold at a low price, then the producer 
gains less. If all producers are in the same situation, they 
are all miserable ; it is their abundance which ruins society. 
And as all conviction seems to be embodied in fact, it is 
seen that in most countries the laws of men are opposed to 
the abundance of things. This sophism, if clothed in a 
general form, would, perhaps, make little impression ; but 
applied to a particular order of facts, to such or such 
branch of industry, to any given class of producers, it is 
extremely specious, which may be thus explained. It is a 
syllogism, not false, but incomplete. But whatever there 
may be which is true in a syllogism, is always and necessarily 
present to the mind. On the other hand, incompleteness is 
a negative quality, an absent datum, which it is very possible, 
and even very easy, to hold of no account. Man produces 
in order to consume. He is at the same time a producer 
and a consumer. The reasoning which I have just esta- 
blished considers him only under the first of these points of 
view. Under the second, we should have arrived at an 
opposite conclusion. Might it not in truth be said, — the 
consumer is inasmuch more rich, as he buys all things 
cheaper; he buys things cheaper in proportion to their abun- 
dance; their abundance enriches him; and this reasoning, 
extended to all consumers, would conduct to the theory of 
abundance. It is the imperfectly comprehended notion of 
exchange which produces these illusions. If we consult our 
personal interest, we distinctly recognise that it is two-fold. 
As sellers, we are interested in the dearness of the article, 
and by consequence in its rarity; as buyers, in a cheap 
market, or, what is the same, in the abundance of things." 

We have extracted the last paragraph from the articles 
on scarcity and abundance, in Mr. Potter's clever trans- 
lation of M. Bastiat's " Sophismes Economiques ; " and we 
regret that our space does not allow us to give more of that 
article. We will therefore merely add Mr. Potter's note on 
the same : — " The error into which the author has here 
allowed himself to fall, is beginning to be understood in 
England, where large profits are made by means of low 
prices. It is found that greater gains are made by catering 
for the million, than by providing for the demands of the 
affluent. Weekly journals, which if sold at prices until 
lately general, would certainly not pay their expenses, are 
made to yield handsome incomes to all connected with them, 
when sold at prices that bring them within the reach of the 
many. For the extensive application of this discovery, which 



book v. 323 

is not now confined to matters of literature, but is fast 
being extended to a great variety of objects, in a way that 
adds most importantly to the comfort and enjoyment of the 
labouring classes, we are under much obligation to the 
Messrs. Chambers, of Edinburgh, and to the able and inge- 
nious publisher of the ' Penny Magazine.' " 

Mr. Potter further says, in his note : — " We cannot sim- 
plify and cheapen any article of use or consumption without 
adding to the sum of human enjoyment. Even in the case, 
if any such case can be found, of articles, the use of which 
cannot be increased by making them cheaper, the consumer 
will, when they shall be cheaper, have greater means left at 
his disposal for procuring other objects of desire, while the 
capital of the producer will be in part set free, and will be 
employed for the preparation of the increased quantities of 
objects so demanded."* 

144. Right of levying Taxes vested in the House of 
Commons. 

According to this principle the House of Commons pos- 
sesses entirely the means of granting supplies for the public 
service ; and from this important privilege a truly gigantic 
power is intrusted to them (on which, indeed, hangs the 
great balance of the constitution,) — the sole right of levying 
taxes, and supplying subsidies to the executive. 

It is known that every bill, whether private or public, 
which has for its object the raising of money, must originate 
in the House of Commons ; and whatever bills of this nature 
are sent up to the House of Lords, the Lords are only 
allowed simply to reject or to pass them. 

This power has come to be invested in the Commons, not 
from abstract theory, or by the abgregation of reason, a 
priori ; for it is very difficult, indeed, to show its consistency 
with the general principles of the law of nature, or with the 
deductions of reason; but it has intermixed with the consti- 
tution in the course of its experimental working. It cannot 
arise from the circumstance, that the money is voted by 
the Commons independent of the Lords ; for the taxes are 
supplied from the whole property of the kingdom. The 
Commons do not furnish the supplies, and have no power 
whatever to collect them : this rests with the executive ; 
but it has been found expedient, in the practice of govern- 
ment, that the power of measuring the expenses of the 

• We beg the reader will decide whether it is better to have cheap or dear 
productions, as we are not convinced by either of the arguments. 



324 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

state, and voting the amount proper for sustaining the 
different branches of public management, should rest in one 
assembly, in order that no dissension may arise on a subject 
which might clog the wheels of government by delay. No 
question can arise with the Sovereign or Lords as to the 
supply being too much or too little ; the vote of the House 
of Commons at once decides the amount; and thus the 
money transactions of the state proceed with regularity and 
despatch. This high trust has been confided to the House 
of Commons undoubtedly for the benefit of the whole 
nation, and not for the purpose of being converted into an 
engine of destruction to the other branches of government. 
In confiding this trust, the constitution has not left it with 
them to decide as to whether there shall or shall not be a 
supply, but, generally, to say what shall be the amount of 
that supply. This power is very properly vested in the 
elective body of the legislature, because it represents all the 
interests of the community, and must be supposed to have 
the closest sympathy with the various classes of society, and 
not so easily to be influenced by private motives : but, 
though the elective body be thus distinguished, it has no 
legal warrant or moral power, by the exercise of it, to 
contravene the laws of the constitution under which they 
have been elected. They have no more power to refuse all 
supplies than they have to declare the constitution to be at 
an end. They are the assessors, in many cases, within certain 
limits, and, under particular statutes, of the compensations 
and payments to be awarded and paid to public functiona- 
ries, in order that the existing authorities may not lack the 
immediate means of carrying on the affairs of the country to 
the country's honour : but to refuse any part of these 
means, for the purpose of coercing the constituted autho- 
rities into measures in no way connected with the monetary 
affairs of the state, would be a high crime and misdemea- 
nor in law, and a gross fraud and malversation of autho- 
rity in conscience. 

145. Burden shaken from one to another. 
If this hypothesis be true, it is not astonishing that most 
of the aristocracy are conservatives ; but a recent case 
has proved that their resistance to all great measures for 
the welfare of the state is very moderate, even if such mea- 
sures have not won their approbation. They hate disunion 
and political changes, and therefore yield when necessity 
requires. 



book v. 325 

146. Revenue of the Church. 
We beg to refer our readers to some former notes on this 
subject 

147. Subjection of all Ranks to Taxes. 
Some examples in executions for poor-rate prove that 
persons of the highest rank are subjected to that rule. 

148. Proportion of Taxes. 
The proposition of Amund seems at first sight somewhat 
paradoxical, as the state needs in time of war greater 
sacrifices than in time of peace; and were that not the 
case, the national debts of most countries would not be so 
augmented as they actually are. But probably he set out 
from the principle, that in time of war the incomes of in- 
dividuals are considerably less than in time of peace ; and 
on that account the equilibrium which a man can bear is 
re-established. We are, however, very glad that Amund is 
satisfied with the twentieth, and, at most, the tenth part of 
the public income ; for if we calculate all the direct taxes 
that every man is obliged to pay to the state by indirect 
ones, (which it would be superfluous to enumerate,) we can 
boldly assert that he pays to the state half his income. 
There would be no harm in it if those forced gifts were only 
well employed. But as it is, we are reminded of the 
paternal Chinese imperial edict, which says — "That the 
taxes should be paid at the term, and a man should not 
want to be urged ; then you may take what is over and 
nourish your parents, complete the marriage ceremonies of 
your sons and daughters, satisfy your morning and evening 
wants, and prepare for the annual feasts and sacrifices." 
In the amplification of that maxim in the sacred edict, 
the matter is not more plausibly explained : — " It is neces- 
sary that you first complete the payment of your taxes, 
and with the little money which you have over you may 
buy some good things, by which to manifest filial piety to 
your parents, the authors of your life ; and to show your 
affection to your brothers and sisters, who lay in the same 
womb, and sucked the same breasts. Again, you may also 
be able to complete the great things, viz. the marriage of 
your daughters and sons ; your own daily food and clothing, 
and the [ceremonies of the] times and seasons. All these 
you may be able by degrees duly to regulate." Englishmen 
pay taxes, and then take what is over ! 



326 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

149. Illusive freedom. 
" The free German [the descendant of the German] will 
not be bound." He consequently likes to bear iron fetters 
enveloped in flowers. He willingly gives, and more than 
he ought, to society, imagining that he is free ; and if this 
illusion makes him happy, why should we deprive him of it? 

150. Foundation of the British Constitution. 
We have in a former note already explained the basis and 
most important pillars of the British constitution, which 
consist in the application of that principle. 

151. Reforms in Legislation. 

About the end of the last century, Romilly, Bent-ham, 
Mackintosh, Michael Angelo Taylor, and other reformers, 
proved that the laws of England were not what they assumed 
to be. In 1828, Lord Brougham, in a masterly address, 
brought the subject of legal abuses before parliament; and 
that extraordinary effort of luminous and convincing elo- 
quence proved not wholly fruitless to the nation. The author 
lived from that time mostly in England, and what he saw, 
heard, and experienced in law matters, has convinced him 
that nothing essential has been done in the way of reform. 

Certainly, if a foreigner, after reading Blackstone, was 
informed that the judges of England met together on cer- 
tain occasions, to discuss questions so difficult, as to be 
reserved for their united wisdom, he would form to himself 
a notion of all that was most wise, venerable, and imposing. 
At such a gathering of sages, he would naturally think must 
be congregated all that practical wisdom, the fruit of grey 
experience and exact theory, the result of long and intimate 
acquaintance with the treasured wisdom of ages, that could 
bear upon the conflicting and shifting phenomena of life. 
At such a meeting, all the great doctrines upon which the 
fabric of society, whatever be its form, must ultimately rest, 
must needs be sifted, examined, and illustrated. 

But great would be the disappointment of the stranger 
when he learned that the time of so august an appeal has 
been wasted in discussions of trifling objects in the form, 
and not in the spirit of the law. The new example of late 
court-sittings attests what an uncertain lottery the British 
judicature is ; how the innocent may be punished, and the 
guilty escape, under favour of a system, in which the worst 
precedent often overrules all reason, and retards all justice. 
But cruelty, delay, and uncertainty, are not the only public 



book v. 327 

hardships resulting from the retention of old laws, usages, 
forms, and obsolete or questionable institutes. Other evils, 
moral as well as legal, flow from the same deleterious source. 
Oath-making, affidavit-making, solemn affirmations of reli- 
gious belief, declaration against bribery at elections, or on 
the property qualification of members of parliament, against 
corruption in the disposal of civil offices of East India 
patronage, against the supremacy of the pope, and in favour 
of the Protestant succession and the Protestant Church 
establishment, — all these, in many cases, are held to be 
forms only, but they are pernicious forms, the superfluous 
observance of which has tended to undermine the security of 
public and private transactions, and impair immeasurably 
the general integrity and veracity of the community. We 
therefore heartily wish that Amund's observation may be 
appreciated by those whose occupation it is to give laws to 
the country. 

152. Obedience to the Laws. 
We are convinced that there is no country in the world 
where the prescription of the laws in general are more 
obeyed and considered than in England. The great number 
of criminals must here be set aside, and cannot be opposed 
to our observation, which concerns civil rights and peaceable 
men, who acknowledge their laws are made to be obeyed; 
while in other countries they are partly considered as having 
been made to be evaded : and it is the more astonishing, 
since most of the inhabitants of Great Britain confess that 
the existing laws are not satisfactory, and their application 
still less so. The middle classes, who often speak "wie ihnen 
der Schnabel gewachsen ist" say, " I don't like law ; I hate 
lawyers, &c." because they know but too well the abuses of 
the law, and have not judgment enough to have the inner 
conviction that the "laws are also salutary to the individual 
bound by them." 

153. Men should moderate their desires. 
It is very difficult to convince man that " the fulfilment 
of his desires will but make him unhappy." Many philo- 
sophers pretend that men in a state of nature are inclined to 
evil. Others, that they are timid; and others again, like 
Hobbes, that their natural state is that of war, and that they 
are inclined to subject each other. It is only by education 
that they can be brought to conquer their passions ; and to 
attain this, the most effectual education is that which Rous- 
seau has employed in his " Emile " — experience. It is only 



328 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

by experience, and sometimes by very hard experience, that 
man learns that " the fulfilment of his desires will but make 
him unhappy." 

154. Punishments must be mild hut inevitable. 

How can the punishment be inevitable when the con- 
clusion of law-suits are enigmas, even to the most experienced 
men ? The punishment for capital crimes is known by all ; 
but those of a lesser degree vary in countries where no 
positive code exists, as we have already mentioned, according 
as the case may be considered by the judges. As concerns 
the mildness of punishments, we have already given our 
opinion in a former note. 

155. Public Appointments obtained by favour. 

We here perceive that liberties, privileges, and licenses 
could only be obtained by the commoners ; but as appoint- 
ments are granted by the crown, and most of its officers, 
that law is paralyzed ; and we boldly ask, whether favour 
does not often displace merit? To give examples of this is not 
our task. 

The British constitution itself possesses a remedy in the 
stipulation that the sovereign may create new offices, and 
affix new titles to them, but cannot create new fees for their 
support ; nor can the crown annex new fees to old offices, 
as this would be a tax on the subject, which cannot be 
imposed but by parliament. 

156. Privy Council. 

The sovereign of Great Britain is assisted by the privy 
council, of which the number in ancient times was limited to 
twelve ; afterwards it increased to so large a number that it 
was found inconvenient ; and in the reign of Charles II. its 
number was limited to thirty; but since that time the 
number has been gradually augmented, and now continues 
indefinite. 

As it is evident that among so many secrecy and despatch 
could not always be secured, nor responsibility effectually 
exacted, the sovereign is advised and attended by another 
council, the members of which, ex officio, are members of the 
privy council, and which is " The Cabinet Council." The 
eminent individuals who compose this council are intrusted 
with all the important affairs of government, both domestic 
and foreign, and with the highest administrative power in 
the state : hence, with their colleagues in office, it is called 



BOOK V. 329 

"The Administration." The members of this council 
receive their appointment from the prime minister, who is 
selected by the sovereign, and empowered by royal autho- 
rity to form the council and the whole administration, 
by choosing such individuals as coincide with him in prin- 
ciple, and who are likely to co-operate with him in carrying 
out the system of government which he has adopted. 

157. Surveyance over Counsellors. 

This surveyance over the counsellors of the king is not 
always effectual in its practice, as they seldom render an 
account of their actions until it is too late to repair them ; 
and the representatives of the people must very often be 
satisfied with being informed that the matter is not ripe for 
communication : but even that responsibility is a check to 
their unbridled will, and, in some cases, does not fail in it? 
result. 

158. Voice of the People. 

It is very difficult for the sovereign to discover what the 
" voice of the people " really signifies. Public addresses to 
the monarch or his government are for the most part con- 
structed by some leader, bearing the signatures of a great 
number of individuals, who cannot be considered as compe- 
tent in the matter, and with whom quantity cannot replace 
quality. But it is, at the same time, very unpopular to 
ridicule such addresses, even if they are " monstrous." The 
right of openly speaking and petitioning should never be 
oppressed, not even in a critical moment Speaking, though 
ever so free, is not a crime, unless accompanied by action. 
" Les paroles," says Montesquieu, " ne forment point un 
corps de delit, elles ne restent que dans l'idee. La plupart 
du temps elles ne signifient point par elle-memes, mais par 
le ton dont on les dit. Souvent, en redisant les memes 
paroles, on ne rend pas le meme sens : le sens depend de la 
liaison qu'elles ont avec d'autres choses. Quelquefois le 
silence exprime plus que tous les discours. II n'y a rien de 
si equivoque que tout cela. Comment done en faire un crime 
de lese-majeste ? Partout oh. cette loi est £tablie, nonseule- 
ment la liberte nest plus, mais son ombre meme." . . " Les 
actions ne sont pas de tous les jours, bien des gens peuvent 
les remarquer ; une fausse accusation sur des faits peut etre 
aisement eclaircie. Les paroles qui sont jointes a une action 
prennent la nature de cette action. Ainsi un homme qui va 
dans la place publique exhorter les sujets a la revolte, 
devient coupable de lese-majeste, parce que les paroles sont 



330 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

jointes a Taction et y participent. Ce ne sont point les 
paroles que Ton punit, mais une action commise, dans la- 
quelle on emploie les paroles. Elles ne deviennent des 
crimes que lorsqu' elles preparent, qu' elles accompagnent ou 
qu'elles suivent une action criminelle. On renverse tout, si 
Ton fait des paroles un crime capital, au lieu de les regarder 
comme le signe d'un crime capital." 

" Les ecrits contiennent quelqe chose de plus permanent 
que les paroles ; mais, lorsqu'ils ne preparent pas au crime de 
lese-majeste ils ne sont point une matiere de lese-niajeste." 

Satirical writings and caricatures, even if personal, are 
not considered as libels in England, for the political motive, 
that they are usually directed against the powerful, that 
they natter general malignity, comfort the discontented, 
lessen the desire for high offices, and impart such patience 
to the people as to make them laugh at their own sufferings. 

159. Use of the rejecting power of a King. 
This right has lately been used (or abused) by an Euro- 
pean monarch ; and although it may be contrary to the opinion 
of philanthropists and philosophers, we wish that this remedy, 
perhaps an evil of itself, would be sanctioned by success in 
appeasing the disordered states of Germany, and the re- 
mainder of Europe. But monarchs and ministers have no 
right to oppress liberty, even for the purpose of maintaining 
peace and preventing anarchy. All good-hearted men will, 
however, rather suppress their feelings and give up some of 
their privileges than favour the latter. 

160. Influence practised on Electors. 
We do not see how this can be prevented, since the 
speeches and letters of candidates to electoral bodies are so 
very frequent and lead to so many abuses. They flatter the 
electors, confess principles which their hearts are not at all 
disposed to follow ; and if they happen to be at the same time 
members of the government, they promise heaven and earth, 
golden mountains, and arcadian felicity; and, after all, 
generally " strive more after their own aggrandizement than 
that of their country." 

161. Such an honest Man, who supports with patience the loss 
of the esteem of his Party, exists even now. 
The deputies of our time do, for the most part, the con- 
trary to that which Alfred feared. Their electors have 
little power over them, and they strive more after the 



BOOK V. 331 

applause of the premier than after that of the people. But 
modern history has shown to us in other countries many 
" honest men who opposed themselves to the imprudent will 
of the misled people," and to them may be attributed the 
restoration of peace. 

162. Do Representatives strive to increase their power ? 
This also took place lately in other countries, where the 
constitutions were but shortly established. The young 
deputies were not cool enough for their functions, and lost 
their newly acquired right by requiring too much. The 
British representatives consequently keep to the opposite 
extreme, and require too little. 

163. Mischief caused by the power of the People. 
Example: The 1st of June, 1848, in Paris; Rome in 1849; 
and the errors and crimes recently committed in many other 
cities and countries. 

164. Deputies and their Electors. 
The "honourable member for " is an expression adop- 
ted in parliamentary debates, instead of the personal name 
of the member,which should be abolished, because it is quite 
useless to remind a deputy at every opportunity that he has 
been elected for such a county, town, or borough, as he is 
considered more as the representative and defender of the 
rights of the nation, than of those who elected him. Once 
elected, the power of the electors is no more until a new 
election takes place : this point of view, which we think is 
the right one, cannot be brought too often before the notice 
of the members and the electors. 

165. Members of the Opposition. 

The opposition is generally composed of troublesome 
citizens, whose motives we may, however, consider as very 
laudable, when they only " disdain the good because it is not 
the best." Such men should not be morally killed by sarcasm, 
even if they do not succeed, and are overpowered by the 
majority. Great Britain possesses two of them at present, 
of whom one has acquired an undoubted claim to our esteem 
by his seniority, and the other, although somewhat of a 
charlatan, has still done much good. 

British tyranny, to which we have alluded in Note 129, has 
adopted a bad system : it does not wait until a man has 
spoken, in order to oppose and ridicule his speech, but does 



332 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

it even before he has begun. This was the case on the 
occasion of the motions of the old and of the young member. 
With the first it did not disdain to give some grounds ; but 
with the latter it threatened " with the writ point of the 
sheriff's officer, the truncheon of the police, and a body of 
men in scarlet garb with glittering steel ;" but at the same 
time it advised him not to meddle with that matter, stating 
that it was of no use — 

" de faire sur tout un bruit d^mesure, 

Un mechant million, plus ou moins devore, 

Voila-t-il pas de quoi pousser des cris sinistres ! 

Mon cher, les grands seigneurs ne sont pas de vos cuistres. 

lis vivent largement. Je parle sans ph£bus. 

Le bel air que celui d'un redresseur d'abus 

Toujours bouffi d'orgueil et rouge de colere ! 

Mais bah ! vous voulez etre un gaillard populaire, 

Adore des bourgeois et des merchands d'esteufs. 

C'est fort dr61e. Ayez done des caprices plus neufs. 

Les interets publics ? Songer d'abord aux votres. 

Le salut de l'Espagne est un mot creux que d'autres 

Feront sonner, mon cher, tout aussi bien que vous. 

La popularity ? C'est la gloire en gros sous. 

Roder, dogue aboyant, tout autour des gabelles ? 

Charmant metier ! je sais des postures plus belles. 

Vertu ? foi ? probite ? c'est du clinquant deteint. 

C'etait us£ deja du temps de Charles -Quint." — [Ruy Blas.] 

166. Recent Proposals made to Government 
Amund says here, that " the murmurs of the unreasonably 
discontented are certainly acts of ingratitude against a good 
king ; but it were far more dangerous," continues he, " to 
attempt stifling the voice of the people ; it is the path by 
which truth gains admittance to the throne ; it is a warning 
call of Providence, which reminds the prince not to pursue 
the wrong course he has entered." 

That warning has been disregarded by most of the Euro- 
pean governments, and has consequently produced the un- 
fortunate conflicts which every feeling man must deplore. 
By applying it to England we find that sufficient attention 
is not even paid to the voice of the people. We will not 
pretend that the expressions of the Peace Society, the meet- 
ings at Manchester, and elsewhere, are the voice of the whole 
nation ; they were merely brought forth by some ambitious 
leaders. Nevertheless, as the proposals of the individuals 
who represent that part of the nation are patriotic and 



book v. 333 

peaceful, they should not be looked upon with contempt, 
by tyrannical papers. We will admit that one of these 
proposals is erroneous in its form, and that the new scholar 
in diplomacy is not able to prescribe the steps which 
experienced diplomatists should follow ; but, considering the 
purpose by itself, which is to produce and maintain peace, 
and to reduce standing armies, whereby the burthen of 
nations may be lessened, it is the most laudable object that 
policy can attain. 

167. Majority and Minority. 
The actual position of the commoners with government 
resembles a strong tissue, wherein the commoners represent 
the double web, and the government the woof. One por- 
tion of the web is the majority, and the other the minority ; 
but the strong thread of the woof passes between the two, 
and imparts strength to the tissue. This metaphor is the 
more applicable, since the threads of the upper and lower 
web remain united in one constant direction, except when 
one of them perchance departs from them. Just the 
same may be said of the majority and minority, who always 
remain stationary in their number Their voices do not 
move from their party, even for the best and most patriotic 
motions, which have nearly always the same result, in being 
adopted or rejected, a system which alone can excuse the 
late unparliamentary expression, of a very honourable mem- 
ber who found that "he was sold." 

168. Reform of Representation . 

The Reform Act, 2nd William IV., c. 45, orders, " That 
no person shall be entitled to vote for a county member, in 
respect of any freehold, who shall not be in actual occupa- 
tion of the lands or tenements, unless such lands, &c, have 
come to hiin by devise, marriage, or promotion to any bene- 
fice or office ; or unless they shall be of the clear annual 
value of £10 above all charges to which they may be liable." 
The privilege of voting is extended to copyhold property on 
the same conditions as to holders of freehold property. The 
existing rights of forty-shilling freeholders are secured. 

The elective franchise is also extended to every person 
holding Lands or tenements, as lessee or assignee, originally 
created for a term not less than sixty years, on the same 
conditions as to holders of freehold or copyhold property ; 
and this privilege is further extended to lessees or assignees 
for a term not less than twenty years, provided the property 



334 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

shall be to them of the clear annual value of .£50. Mort- 
gagees are entitled to vote if they be in actual possession, or 
in receipt of the rents and profits of the estate. 

But, if such property gives a right to vote in the election 
of a member or members for any city or borough, it dis- 
qualifies the person, whether he be a freeholder, copyholder, 
lessee, or mortgagee, for voting for a county member. 

It further enacts that every such person intending to 
exercise the elective franchise for such property must be 
duly registered ; and that in respect to lands or tenements 
of freehold, copyhold, or customary tenures, the individual 
must have been in possession, or in the receipt of the rents 
and profits, for six calendar months previous to the last day 
of July in such year, in order to registration ; and that no 
individual shall be registered in respect of lands or tene- 
ments, held by him as lessee or assignee, who has not been in 
possession, &c, for twelve calendar months next previous to 
the last day of July in such year : but this enactment does 
dot extend to any lands or tenements which would otherwise 
entitle the owner, holder, &c. to vote in any such election, 
which shall come to any person at any time within such res- 
pective periods of six or twelve calendar months by descent, 
succession, marriage, devise, or promotion to any benefice or 
office. 

With respect to the election of members for cities or 
boroughs, or any place sharing in the election for cities and 
boroughs, the elective franchise is extended to every indivi- 
dual who occupies, as owner or tenant, any house, ware- 
house, counting-house, or shop, of the clear annual value of 
£10, provided he shall have been in possession twelve 
calendar months, and resided in the city or borough six 
months next previous to the last day of July in the year in 
which he tendered his registration. 

Nor is it necessary that it should be the same house, &c, 
but different premises in immediate succession will entitle 
him to vote. But the act provides that every person enti- 
tled to vote for the member or members of any city or town, 
being a county of itself, shall in future be entitled to vote, 
provided he be duly registered, and if in the receipt of the 
rents for twelve months from 31st of July. 

The existing rights of freemen are reserved, but they 
must be resident six months. The reason assigned for 
requiring any qualification in voters with regard to property 
is, to exclude all those persons who are in so dependant a 
situation as not to be in a position to exercise a will of their 



BOOK V. 335 

own. This would necessarily place them at the disposal of 
others, and an ambitious and wealthy man, by an improper 
influence, might obtain a larger share in elections than 
might be consistent with general liberty. "We do not, how- 
ever, altogether acquiesce in the validity of this reason; 
for, if this were the ground upon which the limitation of 
suffrage proceeded, nothing is more evident than that it 
ought to be curtailed within a much narrower boundary. 
Votes never have been and never will be independent to a 
very great degree. We should rather conceive that it arises 
from the necessity of controlling the natural right to bring 
it into a just accordance with social right. The natural 
rapacity of man is to possess himself, when he stands in 
need, of the property of others. In society the majority 
are poor, and there is a natural tendency in the mass of 
every community to possess themselves of the property of 
the wealthier classes. If this natural bias be not repressed, 
it will overflow, to the ruin of society. But, if there were 
no qualification, it is easy to perceive that numbers would 
prevail, pursue their natural bias, and trample on social law. 

At all events, all popular governments have been obliged 
to resort to some standard of qualification. The British 
constitution steers a middle course between the two ex- 
tremes of numbers and property ; and, in adhering to it, 
our safety depends. 

Other forms of representation have lately been demanded 
for Great Britain. We will not permit ourselves to give a 
judgment in so difficult a subject, which requires to be 
studied for life-time, and must confide in the enlightened 
reasons of members who have had forty years' experience 
in parliament. General suffrage now admitted in various 
countries should be rejected ; as the people may be easily 
misled, and experience, which imparts to them moderate 
opinions, is sometimes purchased at great sacrifice. How- 
ever we hope that British legislators will discover when 
this question comes a Vordre du jour, the right ways and 
means of complying with the wish of the nation, in the 
best and most peaceable manner.* 

* In a little work which the author has under his pen, (but not intended 
for England, being in a foreign language) he endeavours to explain his 
opinion that the people might be represented in a different manner than 
that based on landed property and income. It is true that land has 
been, and is still, the greatest and most real scale of property ; but many 
others have, in modern times, competed with it, as we have already said : as 
manufactures, ships, mines, railways, &c, which all now represent almost 
as secure property as land. We have seen that in times of general distrust 
the value of estates diminished momentarily in the same proportion, and 



336 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

169. Happy situation of Great Britain. 
Great Britain enjoys that fortunate situation, and stands 
higher in that respect, than any other nation. The character 
of its institutions has been fearfully tried, and their worth 
triumphantly established. Exterior enemies will never find 
a faction to trouble the country ; and there is no fear of an 
attack from abroad, even in such an improbable case, means 
of defence would be speedily found, without having so great 
a number of armed vessels and scarlet garbs ready. 

170. Question of Short or Long Parliaments. 
Amund rejects here the election for a short period, but 
admits those for three or for seven years. This is a question 
of the present day, and requires great consideration. The 
short duration of one year is, at all events, rejectable, even 
if it be for the pompous and illusive dignity of a lord mayor, 
the maintenance of which is an honourable tribute of the 
aristocracy to the citizens ; and its sudden change has, per- 
haps, been introduced, in order that every alderman may 
be able to enjoy that momentary grandeur ; but the good 
that such a magistrate could produce, if his functions were 
greater than those of a magistrate in a police court, and a 
host of public dinners, and if he remained longer in office, and 
were, from longer study and knowledge, the true represen- 
tative of the citizens, is extinguished by his short duration 
as lord mayor. As regards the three and seven years' par- 
liament, the advantage of the shortest period would be that 

almost more, than other goods and chattels. The mentioned opinion of the 
author is, that representation might be effected as well by the corporations 
of the different branches of industry, namely, by " labour ;" of which 
Locke explained one hundred and fifty years ago, that " of the products of the 
earth useful to the life of man, nine-tenths are the effect of labour : nay, if 
we will rightly estimate things as they come to our use, and cast up the 
several expenses about them, what in them is purely owing to nature, and 
what to labour, we shall find, that in most of them ninety-nine in a hundred 
are wholly to be put to the account of labour." The author has also endea- 
voured to show in what way the bodies, which should represent the general 
industry of the country, should be formed. This does not imply that the 
army, the navy, the clergy, and the fine arts, should not likewise have their 
representatives. But with respect to industry, he developes at the same time 
the principle that " every individual who enjoys a revenue, or a function in 
any manufacturing, or railway establishment, whether as proprietor, manager, 
administrator, or shareholder, should be considered as a member of a " Poly- 
technic Confederation," towards the prosperity of which he should contribute 
(besides his other duties as a citizen,) a portion of his intelligence as well as 
of his fortune. Every one of these individuals who occupies a lofty position, 
should descend some degrees in order to raise his subordinates nearer his 
own station. This would constitute real fraternity, without abolishing sub- 
ordination." But protesting against any idea of modern socialism, the author 
also fears that his project would not sound well to the ears of the British 
industrial aristocracy. 



BOOK V. 337 

the electors might change their representatives sooner than 
at present if they found them not fitted for the task intrusted 
them. But, again, it should be considered that every func- 
tion must be studied and practised. A member who is not 
fitted for parliamentary purposes in the first or even in the 
second year, may acquire the necessary qualities in the 
course of a longer period, and then develop his hitherto un- 
known talents. As parliament assembled at the end of the 
mournful year 1847, the result of their very long session was 
very little. In the present session, more active spirit has 
been developed, and praiseworthy attempts for the general 
welfare made. If such men were longer in function, the 
golden time of British parliaments might return with Perei- 
vals, Wilberforces, Burdetts, &c. ; but if they are altered 
after a year's time, it will really be a pity for such eminent 
talents as the above to be stifled at their birth, and a new 
education of members to be made. 

171 and 172. Representatives should be worthy of sitting at 
the Rudder of Government. 

The time which Alfred prophecied arrived six hundred 
years ago ; during which, the people were more or less able 
to govern themselves, and the representatives more or less 
worthy of sitting at the rudder of government. 

Our purpose in publishing this little work is free from 
any self or factious interest ; and it is to awaken the sacred 
original principles, and remind the representatives by warn- 
ings, to be at all times "worthy to sit at the rudder of 
government;" for Montesquieu, who bestows the greatest 
praise upon the British constitution, concludes thus : — 
" Comme toute les choses humaines ont une fin, l'etat dont 
nous parlons perdra sa liberte, il perira. Rome, Lacede"- 
mone et Carthage ont bien peri. II perira lorsque la puissance 
legislative sera plus corrompue que l'executrice." 

The same opinion is expressed by Sir. T. Mortimer in the 
following words: — "If ministerial influence in parliament 
should prevail so far as constantly to assure a majority in 
the House of Commons in favour of every measure indis- 
criminately, which the reigning administration thinks proper 
to adopt and to persist in, then farewell to the political pre- 
eminence of the British empire ! for glory dwells not with 
slaves, but increases or diminishes with the liberty of the 
people." 



338 



BOOK VI. 



173. Othar's Voyages. 
Haller has joined to Othar's real voyages those to the 
shores of East Greenland and Spitzbergen, which were 
effected by Wulfstan. Both are positively authentic, although 
he pretends not to have taken them from Othar's own de- 
scription. Whether Alfred's work was the source where- 
from he derived his knowledge, or whether there are other 
authentic works on Othar's voyages, may be explained better 
by those learned in the Anglo-Saxon history, which we do 
not pretend to be. 

1 74. Othar's success in obtaining Ships for his Voyages. 

Othar was animated by his prophetical ideas, like Colum- 
bus in a similar circumstance. We cannot suppose him to 
have been gifted with more eloquence than the genial and 
instructed Columbus, and must therefore attribute to Al- 
fred's enlightened mind that Othar had not to apply to all 
the different sovereigns in Europe before he succeeded in 
obtaining a few ships for his great undertaking. 

175 & 176. Sociality in a State of Nature. 
In a former note we have already explained the state o 
society in that of nature. Here, however, we see that of 
sociality and equality practised in its original purity ; but 
we doubt whether such a kind of social living, produced 
rather by bestiality than by philosophy, might be transferred 
to more populous countries and warmer climates, where 
passion prevails over stoicity. 

177. Cruelty practised towards Children. 
This custom, as cruel as it is, is even surpassed by the 
Chinese, who kill a number of their children when they can- 
not bring them up. The latter cannot be excused, as their 



BOOK VI. 339 

country is far more civilized than that of these savages, and 
because they are enlightened by wholesome laws. The 
shadow of justification for such cruelty, which lies in the 
scarcity of food in these overpopulated dominions, cannot 
be admitted as a sufficient reason for such cruelty ; for, were 
we to do so, how could we, with justice, condemn similar 
actions in European countries. 

178. Marriages and Filial Piety. 

" Marriages are just as constant and harmonizing as with 
other nations." That depends upon what other nations 
Haller meant. Probably not the French or Italians ; but 
the German and English. We do not, however, know 
whether the soft sounding word, " harmony," can at all be 
applied to married life, and whether " unity " would not be 
more appropriate, as so many disonancies in married life 
prevent the effection of any complete harmony. 

The reason why unfertility is despised is very well ex- 
plained. The " Sacred Edict " says : " Bring up a child, 
and then you will know the kindness of a father and 
mother. 1 ' . . . " Filial pity is [founded on] the unalter- 
able statutes of heaven, the corresponding operation of earth, 
and the common obligations of all people. Have those who 
are void of filial piety never reflected on the natural affec- 
tion of parents to their children ?" . . . "The son of man 
that would recompense one in ten thousand of the favours 
of his parents, should at home exhaust his whole heart, 
abroad exert his whole strength." 

179. Origin of Property. 

" Superfluity forms there the only difference which raises 
one man above another." The superfluity alluded to is 
pecuniary ; and whoever contests that right to superfluity 
also contests the right to property. A celebrated French 
political author lately wrote a treatise on property, wherein 
he does not reach Locke, who speaks on this subject as 
follows : — 

" God, who hath given the world to men in common, hath 
also given them reason to make use of it to the best advan- 
tage of life and convenience. The earth, and all that is 
therein, is given to men for the support and comfort of their 
being. And though all the fruits it naturally produces, and 
beasts it feeds, belong to mankind in common, as they are 
produced by the spontaneous hand of nature ; and nobody 
has originally a private dominion, exclusive of the rest of 
Q 2 



340 . NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

mankind, in any of them, as they are thus in their natural 
state : yet being given for the use of men, there must of 
necessity be a means to appropriate them some way or other 
before they can be of any use, or at all beneficial to any 
pacticular man. The fruit, or venison, which nourishes the 
wild Indian, who knows no inclosure, and is still a tenant in 
common, must be his, and so his, i. e. a part of him, that 
another can no longer have any right to it, before it can do- 
him any good for the support of his life. 

" Though the earth, and all inferior creatures be common 
to all men, yet every man has a property in his own person. 
This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of 
his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are pro- 
perly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the- state 
that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his 
labour with it, and joined to it something that is his own, 
and thereby makes it his property. It being by him re- 
moved from the common state nature placed it in, it hath by 
this labour something annexed to it, that excludes the com- 
mon right of other men. For this labour being the unques- 
tionable property of the labourer, no man but he can have a 
right to what that is once joined to, at least where there is 
enough, and as good left in common for others. 

" He that is nourished by the acorns he picked up under 
an oak, or the apples he gathered from the trees in the weod, 
has certainly appropriated them to himself. Nobody can 
deny but the nourishment is his. I ask then, When did they 
begin to be his ? When he digested ? Or when he ate ? Or 
when he boiled? Or when he brought them home? Or when 
he picked them up? And it is plain, if the first gathering 
made them not his, nothing else could. That labour put a 
distinction between them and common. That added some- 
thing to them more than nature, the common mother of all, 
had done ; and so they became his private right. And will 
any one say he had no right to those acorns or apples he 
thus appropriated, because he had not the consent of all 
mankind to make them his ? Was it a robbery thus to 
assume to himself what belonged to all in common ? If 
such a consent as that was necessary, man had starved, not- 
withstanding the plenty God had given him. We see in 
commons, which remain so by compact, that it is the taking 
any part of what is common, and removing it out of the state 
nature leaves it in, which begins the property; without 
which the common is of no use. And the taking of this or 
that part, does not depend on the express consent of all the 



BOOK VI. 341 

commoners. Thus the grass my horse has bit ; the turfs my 
servant has cut ; and the ore I have digged in any place, 
where I have a right to them in common with others, become 
my property, without the assignation or consent of anybody. 
The labour that was mine, removing them out of that com- 
mon state they were in, hath fixed my property in them. 

" By making an explicit consent of every commoner, 
necessary to any one's appropriating to himself any part of 
what is given in common, children or servants could not cut 
the meat which their father or master had provided for them 
in common, without assigning to every one his peculiar part. 
Though the water running in the fountain be every one's, 
yet who can doubt but that in the pitcher is his only who 
drew it out l His labour hath taken it out of the hands of 
nature where it was common, and hath thereby appropriated 
it to himself" 

180. History of Five Robinson Crusoes. 
This history of a steersman (whose name is said to have 
been Himkoff) and his companions, is quite authentic. 

181. Infancy of Man. 

"Children," says Locke, are not born in the full state 
of equality [of men] though they are born to it. Their 
parents have a sort of rule and jurisdiction over them when 
they come into the world, and for some time after, but it is 
but a temporary one. The bonds of this subjection are like 
the swaddling clothes they are wrapped up in, and supported 
by in the weakness of their infancy. Age and reason as 
they grow up, loosen them till at length they drop quite off, 
and leave a man at his own own free disposal. 

" Adam," continues Locke, as a tradition of the holy 
scriptures, " was created as a perfect man. His body and 
mind in full possession of their strength and reason, and 
so was capable from the first instant of his being to pro- 
vide for his own support and preservation, and govern 
his actions according to the dictates of the law of reason 
God had implanted in him. From him the world is peopled 
with his descendants, who are all born infants, weak and 
helpless, without knowledge or understanding. But to sup- 
ply the defects of this imperfect state, till the improvement 
of growth and age hath improved them, Adam and Eve, and 
after them all parents were by the law of nature under an 
obligation to preserve, nourish, and educate the children 
they had begotten, not as their own workmanship, but the 



342 NOTES, COMMENTARIES, ETC. 

workmanship of their own Maker, the Almighty, to whom 
they were to be accountable for them." 

182. Examples of worthy Landowners. 

The reader will already have discovered these descriptions 
to apply to Poland, and the various countries now forming 
the empire of Russia. 

Our author says, — " Their servile subjects have nothing 
to hope of their hard masters, and nothing to loose by their 
destruction." This state may in some degree be compared 
to that of Ireland, for the Irish peasantry are also in certain 
points the slaves of their masters, although not to the same 
extent. Legislation is now occupied in ameliorating the laws 
of the Irish landlords and tenants, as well as the Irish poor 
rate, and assisting them with money through labour ; but 
then can the landlords do nothing themselves without being 
assisted or forced by government ? we will believe that, for 
want of capital, that country is not fitted for manufactures 
in general ; but there are many manufactures which could 
very well be combined with agriculture, and which produce 
almost greater real wealth and felicity than those executed 
by manual labour and machinery in populous districts ; we 
mean those closely connected with agriculture, as brewing, 
distilling, brick-making, &c. We have known in Germany 
an individual, originally a merchant, who bought several 
estates, and erected upon them a model agriculture estab- 
lishment, with the adjoining branches, as the rearing of sheep 
and horned cattle, horses, botanical gardens > nursery, a 
brewery, distillery, steam engine, and rural implements, 
manufactory, pottery, and many other industrial branches. 
We can easily conceive that one man could not administer 
at all these different establishments, not even through clerks, 
that is, if it should be faithfully done; but he employed other 
means ; he engaged young men of education, knowledge, 
and energy, (although not possessed of capital,) and entered 
with them into partnership, (en commandite,) bound them to 
a central office, and to deliver up the cash to a general bank, 
from which they could receive the required supplies. By 
this very simple mode of organization, he not only secured 
and increased his own fortune, but made that of his 
directors and a great number of families. This man was a 
plebeian, and could therefore be reckoned among the aris- 
tocracy of money and knowledge ; but we have a similar 
example in an aristocrat from birth, a count in the Silesian 



BOOK VI. 343 

mountains, who followed the same steps on a larger scale, 
and occupied in his different manufacturing establishments 
an immense number of individuals. Are such examples 
not worthy of imitation ? But we have no doubt that Eng- 
land possesses likewise land-holders who fulfil, if not all, at 
least a portion of the task of making their peasants happy 
by giving them sufficient occupation. 



344 



CONCLUSION. 



183. Man in a State of Nature. 
The state of man in nature, and the law of nature, are 
extremely well described by Locke and other authors ; from 
the former we have already given several extracts in pre- 
ceding notes, but our space does not allow us to quote that 
work farther, as we otherwise would wish to do. 

184. Moderate Monarchy . 

[The reference to this Note was inadvertently omitted in the text.] 

A compound of monarch, aristocracy, and democracy, has 
been framed by the German States into a new form of 
government, which gave it originally the title of a composite 
system. It was afterwards adopted by the Gothic nations ; 
and writers of those days give it the name of "Gothic balance" 
(a balance wherein England has sought, more or less, to 
attain the ideal standard of freedom,) but in modern times 
it has been universally known and understood by its proper 
definition of mixed, regulated, or 

3GElnfotrah Bnttarrtnj. 



FINIS. 



London: Woolley & Cook, Printers, St. Bene't Place, Gracechurch Street 



